Life  of  Black  Hawk 


I 


ioe  Classics 


Life  of 
Black  Hawk 

n 

Ma-Ka-1  Yj~Me~She-Kia-Kiak 


FROM    A    PORTRAIT    PAIN.TED  , BY    R.OBT.   M     SULLY 

Superintendent  of 

vn*          •  •»**»»«* 


|?r£0«*, 

R     R,    DONNELLEY   &    SONS    COMPANY 
CHRISTMAS,  MCMXVI 


Classics 


Life  of 
Black  Hawk 

\  \ 

Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak 


EDITED  BY 


MILO  MILTON  QUAIFE 

Superintendent  of 
The  Stute  Bisloricpl  Society  of  Wjsco*\i# 


press,  Cbica0o 
R.    R.    DONNELLEY    &    SONS    COMPANY 
CHRISTMAS,  MCMXVI 


-33 


i  preface 


AS  announced  in  the  preface  of  last  year's 
A\  volume,  the  series  of  reminiscences  of 
Chicago  life  was  there  completed.  The 
purpose  of  these  annual  publications  has  been 
twofold, —  first,  to  present  an  example  of  the 
high  standards  of  craftsmanship  attained  by 
the  apprentices  of  the  Lakeside  Press,  and 
secondly,  to  carry  at  Christmastide  the  good 
wishes  of  the  Press  to  its  many  patrons  and 
friends.  It  has  been  the  aim  to  select  subject 
matter  which  is  worth  while  in  itself  on  account 
of  its  human  interest,  and  which  has  the  added 
value  of  being  not  readily  obtainable  else 
where.  The  accomplishment  of  this  aim  in 
the  volumes  on  Early  Chicago  is  fully  attested 
by  their  popularity.  So  popular  has  been  this 
historical  note  that  it  has  been  decided  to  use 
for  a  time  at  least,  similar  material  about  the 
contiguous  Northwest ;  and  the  publishers  feel 
especially  fortunate  in  having  enlisted  the  en 
thusiasm  of  Dr.  Milo  Milton  Quaife  who  will 
search  out  and  edit  the  subject  matter  for 
these  volumes.  No  one  is  more  deeply  versed 
in  the  history  and  literature  of  the  Old  North 
west  Territory  or  has  a  finer  appreciation  of 
its  romance;  and  as  superintendent  of  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  he  has 


>£  preface 


access  to  the  richest  store  of  material.  The 
Autobiography  of  Black  Hawk  has  been  se 
lected  as  the  subject  matter  for  this  year. 
That  it  will  continue  to  maintain  the  interest 
shown  in  the  former  volumes  is  the  hope  of 
THE  PUBLISHERS. 


Contents! 


PAGE 

EDITOR'S  PREFACE ix 

CERTIFICATE  OF  ANTOINE  LECLAIR     .  5 

DEDICATION 7 

ADVERTISEMENT  TO  THE  EDITION  OF 

1834 9 

INTRODUCTION n 

LIFE  OF  BLACK  HAWK 23 

INDEX 185 


Vll 


'si  Deface 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR  was  one  of 

the  pathetic  tragedies  of  the  development 
of  our  middle  border.  Much  as  our  coun 
try  blundered  into  war  with  England  in  1 8 12, 
so,  twenty  years  later,  Black  Hawk  blundered 
into  war  with  the  United  States.  As  great  a 
tragedy,  but  much  longer  drawn  out,  was  the 
entire  life  of  Black  Hawk.  The  reasons  for 
reprinting  at  this  time  his  Apologia  have  been 
stated  in  the  main  in  the  Historical  Introduc 
tion  which  follows  these  pages.  Here  I  desire 
only  to  call  attention  to  the  attitude  which  has 
governed  me,  first  in  recommending  to  the 
Lakeside  Press  the  selection  of  this  work  for 
inclusion  in  the  Lakeside  Classics,  and  second 
in  performing  the  editorial  work  which  was 
entrusted  to  me.  I  am  far  from  yielding  to 
the  American  Indian  the  blind  adulation  and 
undiscriminating  praise  which  unfortunately 
has  long  been  popular  with  a  certain  school  of 
writers.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  do  I  think 
he  should  be  treated  with  the  unreasoning 
scorn  and  bitter  prejudice  which  was  commonly 
manifested  by  the  frontiersmen  who  came  into 
actual  contact  and  conflict  with  him.  The 
Indian  was  a  savage;  even,  it  may  be  granted, 
a  splendid  type  of  savage.  As  such,  he  had 


<£&itor'£  preface 


his  faults  and  his  virtues.  Regarded  from 
his  own  viewpoint  of  life  these  are  alike 
comprehensible.  As  measured  by  civilized 
standards  of  achievement  in  the  various  realms 
of  human  activity,  the  red  man  was  vastly  the 
white  man's  inferior.  Ideally,  the  represen 
tatives  of  the  favored  race  should  have  mani 
fested  toward  their  weaker  brethren  an  attitude 
of  benevolent  guardianship.  In  practice,  the 
white  race  was  commonly  guilty  of  cruel 
injustice  to  the  red.  The  red  man,  according 
to  his  wisdom — which,  it  must  be  remembered, 
was  the  wisdom  of  the  child  of  the  forest, — 
struck  out,  oftentimes  blindly  enough,  by  way 
of  retaliation.  It  is  the  function  of  the  his 
torian  to  seek  for  and  set  forth  the  simple 
truth.  Being  human,  however,  he  has  his 
frailties  and  his  viewpoint.  Without  conced 
ing  the  ultimate  righteousness  of  the  cause  of 
the  red  man  in  his  four-century  conflict  with 
the  white  for  the  possession  of  the  American 
Continent,  it  is  still  possible  to  give  him  his 
just  due.  Only  as  we  strive  to  understand 
his  viewpoint  and  enter  into  the  perceptions 
from  which  his  actions  resulted  can  we  truly 
tell  the  story  of  the  relations  of  the  two  races 
in  American  history.  To  this  end,  the  autobi 
ography  of  Black  Hawk  is  a  unique  document. 
Entirely  aside  from  its  historical  interest,  it 
should  possess  a  decided  human  interest  for 
all  who  are  inclined  to  enter  into  the  life  and 


itor'g  preface 


trials  of  the  true  native  American,  the  North 
American  Indian. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  volume  for  the 
press  I  have  enjoyed  and  desire  to  acknowl 
edge  the  efficient  assistance  of  Pauline  Buell, 
Mary  Farley,  Louise  P.  Kellogg,  and  Mary 
Foster,  all  members  of  the  staff  of  the  Wis 
consin  Historical  Library.  The  map  which 
is  given  has  been  drawn  by  Miss  Foster,  while 
Miss  Kellogg  has  prepared  the  index.  The 
responsibility  for  proof-reading  and  otherwise 
seeing  the  copy  through  the  press  has  been 
assumed  by  the  publisher. 

MILO  M.  QUAIFE. 

Madison,  Wisconsin 


XI 


Life  of  Black  Hawk 


LIFE 

OF 

MA-KA-TAI-ME-SHE-KIA-KIAK 

OR 

BLACK    HAWK, 

EMBRACING    THE 

TRADITION    OF    HIS    NATION— INDIAN     WARS     IN     WHICH     HE     HAS 
BEEN    ENGAGED— CAUSE  OF    JOINING    THE    BRITISH    IN    THEIR 
LATE     WAR    WITH    AMERICA,   AND     ITS     HISTORY — DE 
SCRIPTION    OF    THE    ROCK-RIVER  VILLAGE — MAN 
NERS    AND  CUSTOMS — ENCROACHMENTS    BY 
THE   WHITES,  CONTRARY    TO   TREA 
TY — REMOVAL     FROM     HIS 
VILLAGE    IN    1831. 

WITH    AN 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CAUSE  AND  GENERAL  HISTORY 

OF  THE 

LATE    WAR, 

HIS 

SURRENDER  AND  CONFINEMENT  AT  JEFFERSON   BARRACKS, 
AND 

TRAVELS  THROUGH  THE  UNITED  STATES 


DICTATED    BY    HIMSELF. 


J.  B.  Patterson,  of  Rock  Island,  III.  Editor  and  Proprietor. 


BOSTON: 

RUSSELL,  ODIORNE  &  METCALF. 

NEW  YORK:  MONSON  BANCROFT—PHILADELPHIA :  MARSHALL,  CLARK  &  CO. 
BALTIMORE:  JOS.  JEWETT.-MOBILE:  SIDNEY  SMITH. 

1834. 


INDIAN  AGENCY, 

Rock-Island,  October  1 6,  1833. 

I  DO  HEREBY  CERTIFY,  that  Ma-ka- 
tai-me-she-kia-kiak,  or  Black  Hawk,  did 
call  upon  me,  on  his  return  to  his  people 
in  August  last,  and  express  a  great  desire  to 
have  a  History  of  his  life  written  and  published, 
in  order,  (as  he  said)  "that  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  (among  whom  he  had  been  trav 
elling,  and  by  whom  he  had  been  treated  with 
great  respect,  friendship  and  hospitality,)  might 
know  the  causes  that  had  impelled  him  to  act 
as  he  had  done,  and  the  principles  by  which 
he  was  governed."  In  accordance  with  his 
request,  I  acted  as  Interpreter;  and  was  par 
ticularly  cautious,  to  understand  distinctly  the 
narrative  of  Black  Hawk  throughout  —  and 
have  examined  the  work  carefully,  since  its 
completion — and  have  no  hesitation  in  pro 
nouncing  it  strictly  correct,  in  all  its  particulars. 
Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency,  the  day  and  date  above  written. 

ANTOINE  LECLAIR, 

U.  S.  Interpreter  for  the  Sacs  and  Foxes. 


[Translation] 


TO  BRIGADIER  GEN'L.  H.  ATKINSON. 

Sir, —  The  changes  of  fortune,  and  vicissi 
tudes  of  war,  made  you  my  conqueror.  When 
my  last  resources  were  exhausted,  my  warriors 
worn  down  with  long  and  toilsome  marches, 
we  yielded,  and  I  became  your  prisoner. 

The  story  of  my  life  is  told  in  the  following 
pages ;  it  is  intimately  connected,  and  in  some 
measure,  identified  with  a  part  of  the  history 
of  your  own:  I  have,  therefore,  dedicated  it 
to  you. 

The  changes  of  many  summers,  have  brought 
old  age  upon  me, — and  I  cannot  expect  to 
survive  many  moons.  Before  I  set  out  on  my 
journey  to  the  land  of  my  fathers,  I  have  deter 
mined  to  give  my  motives  and  reasons  for  my 
former  hostilities  to  the  whites,  and  to  vindicate 
my  character  from  misrepresentation.  The 
kindness  I  received  from  you  whilst  a  prisoner 
of  war,  assures  me  that  you  will  vouch  for  the 
facts  contained  in  my  narrative,  so  far  as  they 
came  under  your  observation. 


I  am  now  an  obscure  member  of  a  nation, 
that  formerly  honored  and  respected  my  opin 
ions.  The  path  to  glory  is  rough,  and  many 
gloomy  hours  obscure  it.  May  the  Great  Spirit 
shed  light  on  your's — and  that  you  may  never 
experience  the  humility  that  the  power  of  the 
American  government  has  reduced  me  to,  is 
the  wish  of  him,  who,  in  his  native  forests, 
was  once  as  proud  and  bold  as  yourself. 

BLACK  HAWK. 

Moon,  1833. 


It  is  presumed  no  apology  will  be  required 
for  presenting  to  the  public,  the  life  of  a  Hero 
who  has  lately  taken  such  high  rank  among 
the  distinguished  individuals  of  America.  In 
the  following  pages  he  will  be  seen  in  the  char 
acters  of  a  Warrior,  a  Patriot  and  a  State- 
prisoner — in  every  situation  he  is  still  the 
Chief  of  his  Band,  asserting  their  rights  with 
dignity,  firmness  and  courage.  Several  ac 
counts  of  the  late  war  having  been  published, 
in  which  he  thinks  justice  is  not  done  to  himself 
or  nation,  he  determined  to  make  known  to  the 
world,  the  injuries  his  people  have  received 
from  the  whites — the  causes  which  brought  on 
the  war  on  the  part  of  his  nation,  and  a  gen 
eral  history  of  it  throughout  the  campaign. 
In  his  opinion,  this  is  the  only  method  now  left 
him,  to  rescue  his  little  Band — the  remnant  of 
those  who  fought  bravely  with  him — from  the 
effects  of  the  statements  that  have  already 
gone  forth. 

The  facts  which  he  states,  respecting  the 
Treaty  of  1804,  in  virtue  of  the  provisions  of 
which  Government  claimed  the  country  in  dis 
pute,  and  enforced  its  argument  with  the  sword, 
are  worthy  of  attention.  It  purported  to  cede 
to  the  United  States,  all  the  country,  including 
9 


the  village  and  corn-fields  of  Black  Hawk  and 
his  band,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
Four  individuals  of  the  tribe,  who  were  on  a 
visit  to  St.  Louis  to  obtain  the  liberation  of  one 
of  their  people  from  prison,  were  prevailed 
upon,  (says  Black  Hawk,)  to  make  this  impor 
tant  treaty,  without  the  knowledge  or  authority 
of  the  tribes,  or  nation. 

In  treating  with  the  Indians  for  their  country, 
it  has  always  been  customary  to  assemble  the 
whole  nation;  because,  as  has  been  truly  sug 
gested  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  nature 
of  the  authority  of  the  chiefs  of  a  tribe  is  such, 
that  it  is  not  often  that  they  dare  make  a  treaty 
of  much  consequence, —  and  we  might  add, 
never,  when  involving  so  much  magnitude  as 
the  one  under  consideration,  without  the  pres 
ence  of  their  young  men.  A  rule  so  reasonable 
and  just  ought  never  to  be  violated  —  and  the 
Indians  might  well  question  the  right  of  Gov 
ernment  to  dispossess  them,  when  such  violation 
was  made  the  basis  of  its  right. 

The  Editor  has  written  this  work  according 
to  the  dictation  of  Black  Hawk,  through  the 
United  States'  Interpreter,  at  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency  of  Rock  Island.  He  does  not,  there 
fore,  consider  himself  responsible  for  any  of 
the  facts,  or  views,  contained  in  it  —  and  leaves 
the  old  chief  and  his  story  with  the  public, 
whilst  he  neither  asks,  nor  expects,  any  fame 
for  his  services  as  an  amanuensis. 

THE  EDITOR. 
10 


3Inttotittctfott 


MUCH  has  been  heard,  in  recent  years,  of 
the  doctrine  of  benevolent  assimilation 
of  the  backward  races  of  the  earth  by 
their  more  enlightened  and  powerful  brethren. 
A  few  years  ago  the  "white  man's  burden" 
was  a  commonplace  of  current  speech  and  dis 
cussion.  More  recently,  if  contemporary  belief 
may  be  credited,  this  same  doctrine  of  the  duty 
of  a  chosen  people  to  inherit  the  earth,  forcibly, 
if  need  be,  has  constituted  an  important  factor 
in  bringing  on  the  Great  War.  From  the 
beginning,  the  course  of  development  of  the 
American  people  has  been  marked  by  a  tragic 
struggle,  on  the  part  of  a  superior  race  to  grasp, 
of  an  inferior  one  to  retain,  possession  of  the 
virgin  continent  disclosed  to  the  European 
world  by  the  momentous  voyage  of  discovery 
of  1492.  In  the  present  discussion  it  is  my 
purpose  neither  to  praise  nor  to  blame  either  the 
red  or  the  white  race,  the  two  parties  to  this 
four-hundred-year  contest ;  but  rather,  having 
emphasized  the  fact  of  its  inevitability,  to  take 
note  of  certain  of  the  circumstances  by  which 
the  struggle  was  attended. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  axiomatic  that  when 
a  superior  and  an  inferior  race  come  in  contact 
a  struggle  for  domination  will  ensue,  the  result 
ii 


^ntrotmction 


of  which  ordinarily  will  be  the  triumph  of  the 
former  over  the  latter.  Hard  as  their  fate 
may  seem  to  the  conquered,  it  is  an  essential 
accompaniment  to  the  progress  of  the  human 
race.  We  need  not  regret,  therefore,  that  the 
white  man  triumphed  over  the  red  and  wrested 
from  him  the  North  American  continent.  The 
progress  of  civilization  was  involved  in  the  vic 
tory  of  the  superior  race.  Nevertheless  it  is 
to  the  eternal  discredit  of  the  white  man  that 
he  made  the  fate  of  his  opponent  needlessly 
hard  and  bitter;  and  that  in  almost  every  stage 
of  the  long  struggle,  the  relations  of  the  white 
race  with  its  less  civilized  neighbors  have  been 
marked  by  a  disregard  both  of  justice  and  of 
solemn  treaty  obligations.  Inevitably  this 
operated  to  goad  the  red  man  into  impotent 
warfare,  which  became,  in  turn,  the  excuse  for 
further  spoliation.  Fundamentally  the  races 
warred  because  the  red  man  wished  to  retain  a 
continent  which  the  white  man  intended  to 
take.  The  American  people  as  such,  however, 
never  intended  deliberately  to  wrong  the  Indian. 
No  government  ever  entertained  more  enlight 
ened  and  benevolent  intentions  toward  a  weaker 
people  than  did  that  of  the  United  States  toward 
the  Indian;  but  seldom  in  history  has  a  sadder 
divergence  between  intention  and  performance 
been  witnessed.  In  large  part  the  failure  of 
the  government  to  realize  its  good  will  toward 
the  red  men  was  due  to  factors  over  which  it 
had  and  could  have  no  control.  But  all  too 
12 


^ntrotwctitm 


often,  alas,  it  was  due  to  the  government's 
unwillingness  or  inability  to  restrain  its  lawless 
subjects,  who  hesitated  at  no  means  to  possess 
themselves  of  the  land,  the  furs,  and  the  other 
property  of  the  Indians. 

These  remarks  are  designed  to  assist  the 
reader  to  an  appreciation  of  the  historical  sig 
nificance  of  the  autobiography  which  follows. 
It  is  not  a  finished  historical  narration;  rather, 
it  is  an  example  of  the  raw  material  from  which 
such  narratives  are  constructed.  In  telling  the 
story  of  his  life,  Black  Hawk  was  writing  a 
partisan  document.  He  was  not  animated  by 
the  ideal  for  truth  to  which  the  professional 
historian  subscribes,  nor  did  he  enjoy  the  his 
torian's  sense  of  detatched  perspective.  He 
is  far  from  being  the  greatest  or  ablest  repre 
sentative  of  his  race  in  American  history,  and 
he  burned  with  the  consciousness  of  his  wrongs 
at  the  hands  of  the  white  race.  To  read  prof 
itably  his  autobiography,  therefore,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  appreciate  and  to  allow  for  its  partisan 
ship.  Allowance  should  be  made,  too,  for  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  produced. 
Dictated  by  Black  Hawk  in  his  native  tongue, 
turned  into  English  by  an  interpreter,  and  put 
into  literary  form  by  still  a  third  person,  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  the  narrative  conveys 
in  all  cases  the  meaning  the  author  intended. 

Because  of  these  reasons,  in  part,  some  have 
denied  that  the  work  possesses  historical  valid 
ity.  Most  students,  however,  have  felt  that  it 
13 


introduction 


should  be  regarded  as  a  serious  historical  nar 
rative,  and  that  it  constitutes  an  important 
source  of  information  for  the  period  and  sub 
ject  matter  with  which  it  deals.  This  opinion 
the  writer  shares.  But  the  major  interest  in, 
and  the  historical  importance,  of  the  volume  is 
quite  independent  of  the  accuracy  of  its  details. 
Whether  true  or  untrue  in  its  statements,  and 
in  this  respect  it  shares  the  errors  common  to  all 
autobiography,  the  book  is  important  because 
it  illuminates,  as  with  a  flash  of  lightning,  the 
viewpoint  and  state  of  mind  of  a  typical  repre 
sentative  of  the  vanquished  race.  Not  often 
has  the  red  man  enjoyed,  or  so  well  improved 
an  opportunity  to  tell  his  story  and  to  set  forth 
his  wrongs.  Yet,  unless  this  viewpoint  be  un 
derstood,  there  can  be  no  fair  or  intelligent 
comprehension  of  one  of  the  most  important 
aspects  of  American  history,  nor  any  informed 
opinion  of  the  measure  of  justice,  or  its  oppo 
site,  which  our  country  has  meted  out  to  him. 
Historically,  then,  the  autobiography  possesses 
a  twofold  significance :  immediately,  as  a  valu 
able  source  of  information  pertaining  to  the 
history  of  the  middle  western  border;  and 
more  broadly,  as  representative  of  the  viewpoint 
and  feelings  of  the  Indian  throughout  the  entire 
period  of  conflict  with  the  whites. 

Two  dominant  influences  in  American  history 
made  possible  the  career  of  Black  Hawk.  One 
was  the  rivalry,  already  dwelt  upon,  between 
red  man  and  white;  the  other,  the  international 


^ntrotiuction 


rivalry  between  Great  Britain  and  her  indepen 
dent  American  offspring.  For  generations 
before  the  Peace  of  Paris  of  1763,  the  French 
and  the  English  had  competed  strenuously  for 
the  trade  and,  therewith  the  favor,  of  the  Indian. 
It  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  Indian 
statecraft  concerned  itself  chiefly  with  turning 
to  the  greatest  possible  advantage  the  rivalry 
between  the  two  great  European  nations.  With 
the  revolt  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother 
country  in  17/5,  the  old  French-English  con 
flict  for  commercial  and  political  supremacy  in 
North  America  was  replaced  by  the  newer 
rivalry  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States .  The  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1 783  nominally 
conceded  to  the  latter  sovereignty  over  the  terri 
tory  south  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  westward 
to  the  Mississippi.  Actually,  however,  most 
of  the  region  lying  between  the  Alleghenies  and 
the  Mississippi  was  a  wilderness  held  by  various 
and  powerful  Indian  tribes  from  whom  the 
country  was  still  to  be  wrested.  North  of  the 
Ohio  River,  the  section  with  which  we  are 
immediately  concerned,  the  British  sought  to 
retain  the  control  which,  formally,  they  had 
surrendered  by  the  treaty  of  1783.  British 
and  Indian  interests  coincided,  therefore,  in  a 
policy  of  resistance  to  the  westward  advance 
of  the  Americans.  Nevertheless  this  advance 
progressed  steadily,  and  more  and  more  Amer 
ican  sovereignty  was  extended  over  the  North 
west.  With  its  progress  the  tribes  fell  more 
15 


^ntrotwction 


and  more  under  American  influence.  Thus 
the  British-American  rivalry  was  omnipresent 
throughout  the  frontier,  and  the  different 
bands  and  tribes  adhered  to  the  one  party 
or  the  other  according  as  inclination  or  self- 
interest  dictated.  In  this  political  atmosphere 
the  active  life  of  Black  Hawk  was  spent. 
His  tribe  succumbed  only  tardily  to  the  Amer 
ican  influence,  to  which  Black  Hawk  himself 
never  yielded  until  compelled  thereto  by  force 
of  arms  in  old  age.  Leader  of  the  "Brit 
ish  band"  of  Sauks,  he  was  an  inveterate 
foe  of  the  American  nation  even  after  the 
majority  of  his  tribe  had  yielded  allegiance 
to  it. 

Black  Hawk  was  the  natural  product  of  the 
political  environment  which  encompassed  him. 
Unfortunately  for  him  and  his  people,  however, 
he  was  unable  to  perceive  in  his  later  years 
that  for  all  practical  purposes  the  British-Amer 
ican  rivalry  had  come  to  an  end  and  that 
therewith  must  end,  also,  his  lifelong  role  of 
hostility  to  the  United  States.  Blindly,  there 
fore,  he  led  his  people  to  destruction,  and  in 
so  doing  gave  to  the  history  of  the  old  North 
west  its  last  Indian  War.  Half  a  century 
after  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1783  had  given  the 
United  States  nominal  sovereignty  over  the 
Northwest,  by  the  overthrow  of  Black  Hawk 
and  his  followers  the  last  effort  of  armed 
resistance  to  the  establishment  of  this  sover 
eignty  was  crushed. 

16 


^ntrotwction 


The  more  immediate  cause  of  the  Black 
Hawk  War  redounds  to  the  credit  neither  of 
the  white  man  nor  the  red.  Had  Black  Hawk 
been  more  statesmanlike  and  less  unscrupulous 
the  war  need  never  have  been  fought  ;  equally 
might  it  have  been  obviated  had  the  govern 
ment  or  citizens  of  the  United  States  observed, 
in  their  treatment  of  Black  Hawk's  band,  the 
ordinary  dictates  of  justice  and  reason.  For 
the  story  of  the  war  the  reader  must  seek  else 
where.  Here  we  can  only  sketch  briefly  the 
situation  which  precipitated  it.  In  the  autumn 
of  1804  Governor  Harrison  of  Indiana  Terri 
tory  concluded  at  St.  Louis  a  treaty  with  cer 
tain  representatives  of  the  Sauk  and  Fox  nations 
whereby  the  latter,  in  return  mainly  for  the 
paltry  annuity  of  $1000,  ceded  to  the  United 
States  some  fifty  million  acres  of  land,  com 
prising  the  territory  lying  between  the  Wiscon 
sin  River,  the  Fox  of  Illinois,  the  Illinois,  and 
the  Mississippi,  together  with  the  eastern  third 
of  the  state  of  Missouri.  It  is  idle  now  to 
debate  the  question  of  the  fairness  of  this  treaty, 
or  of  the  compensation  it  carried.  Ample  jus 
tification  can  easily  be  found  for  a  general 
indictment  of  the  system  employed  by  the 
United  States  in  negotiating  treaties  with  the 
Indians.1  But,  although  the  area  ceded  was 


a  consideration  of  this  point  as  illustrated  by 
the  two  Chicago  treaties  of  1821  and  1833,  see  the 
writer's  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest,  1673-1833, 
chap.  xv. 

17 


^Fntrotwttitm 


larger  than  common,  there  is  nothing  about  this 
particular  transaction  to  distinguish  it  materially 
from  scores  of  other  treaties  which  have  been 
concluded  with  the  Indians.  Black  Hawk  later 
advanced  the  contention  that  the  Sauk  and  the 
Fox  signers  of  the  treaty  acted  without  author 
ity  from  their  nations;  in  short,  that  so  far  as 
the  tribes  were  concerned  it  was  a  fraudulent 
transaction;  and  to  this  treaty  he  ascribed  the 
origin  of  all  his  people's  difficulties  with  the 
United  States.  This  contention,  however,  is 
not  supported  by  the  facts.  There  is  no  other 
evidence  than  the  assertions  of  Black  Hawk 
that  more  than  the  usual  cajolery  of  the  Indians 
was  indulged  in  by  the  white  representatives  in 
securing  the  cession ;  nor  that  any  protest  was 
made  against  it  save  Black  Hawk's  own  a 
quarter  of  a  century  later.  On  the  contrary, 
in  a  number  of  subsequent  treaties,  to  several 
of  which  Black  Hawk  himself  attached  his  sig 
nature,  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  reaffirmed  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1804. 

To  this  treaty,  nevertheless,  is  to  be  ascribed 
a  principal  occasion  of  the  war  of  1832.  By 
article  seven  it  was  agreed  that  "as  long  as  the 
lands  which  are  now  ceded  to  the  United  States 
remain  their  property,  the  Indians  belonging 
to  the  said  tribes  shall  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
living  and  hunting  upon  them."  In  consider 
ing  this  fateful  stipulation  it  should  be  recalled 
that  in  1804  modern  Indiana  contained  but  a 
few  thousand  inhabitants  clustered  around 
18 


^Tntrotwction 


Vincennes  and  along  the  Ohio  border ;  that  in 
Illinois,  settlement  was  confined  to  the  old 
French  towns  of  the  American  Bottom;  and 
that  all  Michigan,  outside  Detroit  and  its  envi 
rons,  was  likewise  a  silent  wilderness.  There 
would  seem  to  be  no  reason,  therefore,  for 
prohibiting  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  the  enjoyment 
of  their  patrimony,  until  such  time  as  the 
advance  of  American  settlement  should  cause  it 
actually  to  be  needed  by  the  whites.  But  the 
American  frontiersman  has  ever  been  contemp 
tuous  alike  of  the  rights  of  the  Indian  and  of  the 
restraining  hand  of  his  government .  Animated 
by  a  marvelous  energy,  matched  only  by  his 
audacious  self-confidence,  he  has  pushed  the 
line  of  settlement  across  the  continent,  often 
times  in  advance,  and  frequently  in  defiance 
of  the  federal  government.  So  it  happened 
that  about  the  year  1823  covetous  squatters 
began  to  usurp  possession  of  the  rich  fields 
cultivated  by  Black  Hawk's  "British  band  " 
at  the  mouth  of  Rock  River.  This  vicinity  is 
today  a  perfect  garden  spot  to  the  agricultur 
ist,  the  center  of  one  of  the  finest  farm 
ing  regions  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  It  is 
not  strange  that  the  squatters  coveted  Black 
Hawk's  fields;  yet  the  line  of  homestead  set 
tlement  was  still  some  distance  away,  the  inter 
vening  territory  had  not  been  surveyed,  and 
it  was  the  plain  duty  of  the  federal  govern 
ment  to  eject  the  squatters  and  protect  the  na 
tives  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  treaty  rights. 
19 


^ntrotwction 


Unfortunately  for  our  repute  as  a  law-abid 
ing  people,  seldom  has  a  general  law  been 
enforced  in  the  United  States  in  the  face  of 
determined  local  opposition.  Nor  was  it  done 
in  the  case  we  are  considering.  Black  Hawk 
made  vain  and  repeated  appeals  to  the  white 
authorities  for  protection,  and  for  redress  of 
his  grievances.  No  relief  was  afforded,  while 
year  after  year  the  encroachments  continued 
and  his  followers  were  .subjected  to  frequent 
indignity  and  outrage.  The  Indian  has  ever 
been  tenacious  of  his  birthplace,  and  when  at 
length  the  issue  was  forced  upon  him  Black 
Hawk  resolved  to  fight  for  the  retention  of  the 
village  where  he  had  been  born  and  where  his 
ancestors  were  buried. 

The  unwisdom  of  this  resolve  is  manifest. 
Whatever  his  wrongs  may  have  been,  for  Black 
Hawk  to  raise  the  hatchet  against  the  United 
States  in  1832  was  to  lead  his  nation  to  suicide. 
The  wiser  Keokuk  advised  a  peaceful  retreat 
across  the  Mississippi.  Only  temporarily  did 
Black  Hawk  yield,  however,  in  the  spring  of 
1831,  when,  in  the  face  of  a  strong  military 
demonstration  by  the  regular  army  and  the 
Illinois  militia,  he  withdrew  to  the  Iowa  side 
of  the  river.  A  year  later,  spurred  by  illusory 
hopes  of  British  alliance  and  of  Indian  co-oper 
ation,  he  led  his  followers,  about  a  thousand 
souls  in  all,  back  to  the  Illinois  shore,  and 
therewith  began  the  pitiful  tragedy  known  to 
history  as  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

20 


^ntro&uction 


Its  story  is  one  that  few  can  take  pleasure 
in  dwelling  upon.  The  war  was  unfortunate 
alike  in  its  inception,  in  the  way  it  was  waged, 
and  in  the  manner  of  its  conclusion.  That 
Black  Hawk  must  be  crushed  admits  of  no 
dispute.  That  Indian  men  and  women  and 
little  children  should  be  indiscriminately  mas 
sacred  after  Black  Hawk's  power  had  been 
broken  was  a  ghastly  luxury  which  our  fore 
fathers  might  well  have  foreborne  to  enjoy. 

The  war  over,  Black  Hawk  was  taken  as  a 
prisoner  on  an  extensive  tour  of  the  East,  in 
order  that  he  might  receive  ocular  demonstra 
tion  of  the  futility  of  contesting  the  power  of 
the  United  States.  Thereafter,  humbled  and 
disgraced,  he  lived  for  several  years  a  life  of 
peaceful  retirement  which  contrasted  strangely 
indeed  with  his  stormy,  active  career.  Even  in 
death,  he  was  not  immune  from  outrage  at  the 
hands  of  the  conquerors  of  his  people,  for  his 
body  was  stolen  from  the  grave  and  subjected 
to  the  treatment  commonly  reserved  for  male 
factors. 

For  northern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  the  war 
had  an  influence  not  to  be  measured  by  the 
degree  of  magnitude  of  its  military  events. 
For  all  practical  purposes  in  1832  the  region 
between  the  Wisconsin  and  the  Illinois  rivers, 
aside  from  the  vicinity  of  the  lead  mines,  was 
an  unknown  wilderness.  As  a  result  of  the 
war  much  of  it  was  explored,  while  the  fear  of 
the  Indian  and  the  Indian  title  to  the  land 

21 


^ntrofcuction 


disappeared  together.  With  the  completion  of 
the  Erie  Canal  in  1825,  a  transportation  route 
had  been  provided  whereby  the  tide  of  white 
settlers  from  the  East  might  gain  easy  access 
to  the  lands  lying  to  the  west  of  Lake  Michi 
gan.  Suddenly  the  rush  of  white  settlement 
along  this  highway  began.  It  involved  the 
birth  of  the  modern  Chicago  in  the  year  fol 
lowing  the  war,  and,  in  rapid  succession,  of 
many  another  mid-western  city.  It  filled  nor 
thern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  with  settlers  from 
the  free  states,  and  ere  long  the  tide  of  settle 
ment  crossed  the  Mississippi.  Thus,  at  length, 
the  upper  portion  of  the  Great  Valley  was  set 
tled,  mainly  by  a  free-state  population  coming 
by  way  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  the  Great  Lakes. 
It  seems  not  entirely  fanciful  to  suggest  that 
the  Black  Hawk  War,  in  which  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  Winfield  Scott  and 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  and  many  another 
noted  Civil  War  character  took  part,  indirectly 
played  a  considerable  role  in  shaping  the  issue 
of  the  later  and  greater  conflict. 


22 


JLffe  of  TBlacfe 


I  WAS  born  at  the  Sac  Village,  on  Rock 
river,  in  the  year  1/67,  and  am  now  in 
my  6/th  year.  My  great  grandfather, 
Na-na-ma-kee,  or  Thunder,  (according  to  the 
tradition  given  me  by  my  father,  Py-e-sa,)  was 
born  in  the  vicinity  of  Montreal,  where  the 
Great  Spirit  first  placed  the  Sac  Nation,  and 
inspired  him  with  a  belief  that,  at  the  end  of 
four  years,  he  should  see  a  white  man,  who 
would  be  to  him  a  father.  Consequently  he 
blacked  his  face,  and  eat  but  once  a  day,  (just 
as  the  sun  was  going  down,)  for  three  years, 
and  continued  dreaming  throughout  all  this 
time  whenever  he  slept; — when  the  Great 
Spirit  again  appeared  to  him,  and  told  him, 
that,  at  the  end  of  one  year  more,  he  should 
meet  his  father,— and  directed  him  to  start 
seven  days  before  its  expiration,  and  take  with 
him  his  two  brothers,  Na-mah,  or  Sturgeon,  and 
Pau-ka-hum-ma-wa,  or  Sun  Fish,  and  travel 
in  a  direction  to  the  left  of  sun-rising.  After 
pursuing  this  course  five  days,  he  sent  out  his 
two  brothers  to  [14]  listen  if  they  could  hear  a 
noise,  and  if  so,  to  fasten  some  grass  to  the 
end  of  a  pole,  erect  it,  pointing  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound,  and  then  return  to  him. 
23 


of 


Early  next  morning,  they  returned,  and 
reported  that  they  had  heard  sounds  which 
appeared  near  at  hand,  and  that  they  had  ful 
filled  his  order.  They  all  then  started  for  the 
place  where  the  pole  had  been  erected ;  when, 
on  reaching  it,  Na-na-ma-kee  left  his  party, 
and  went,  alone,  to  the  place  from  whence  the 
sounds  proceeded,  and  found  that  the  white 
man  had  arrived  and  pitched  his  tent.  When 
he  came  in  sight,  his  father  came  out  to  meet 
him.  He  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  welcomed 
him  into  his  tent.  He  told  him  that  he  was 
the  son  of  the  King  of  France  —  that  he  had 
been  dreaming  for  four  years  —  that  the  Great 
Spirit  had  directed  him  to  come  here,  where 
he  should  meet  a  nation  of  people  who  had 
never  yet  seen  a  white  man  —  that  they  should 
be  his  children,  and  he  should  be  their  father 
—  that  he  had  communicated  these  things  to 
the  King,  his  father,  who  laughed  at  him,  and 
called  him  a  Ma-she-na  —  but  he  insisted  on 
coming  here  to  meet  his  children,  where  the 
Great  Spirit  had  directed  him.  The  King  told 
him  that  he  would  neither  find  land  nor  people 
— that  this  was  an  uninhabited  region  of  lakes 
and  mountains ;  but,  finding  that  he  would  have 
no  peace  without  it,  fitted  out  a  na-pe-qua, 
manned  it,  and  gave  it  to  him  in  charge,  when 
he  immediately  loaded  it,  set  sail,  and  had  now 
landed  on  the  very  day  that  the  Great  Spirit 
had  told  him,  in  his  dreams,  he  should  meet 
his  chil-[i5]dren.  He  had  now  met  the  man 
24 


ft  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


who  should,  in  future,  have  charge  of  all  the 
nation. 

He  then  presented  him  with  a  medal,1  which 
he  hung  round  his  neck.  Na-na-ma-kee  in 
formed  him  of  his  dreaming, —  and  told  him 
that  his  two  brothers  remained  a  little  ways 
behind.  His  father  gave  him  a  shirt,  blanket, 
and  handkerchief,  besides  a  variety  of  presents, 
and  told  him  to  go  and  bring  his  brothers. 
Having  laid  aside  his  buffalo  robe,  and  dressed 
himself  in  his  new  dress,  he  started  to  meet 
his  brethren.  When  they  met,  he  explained  to 
them  his  meeting  with  the  white  man,  and 
exhibited  to  their  view  the  presents  that  he  had 
made  him — took  off  his  medal,  and  placed  it 
upon  Nah-ma,  his  elder  brother,  and  requested 
them  both  to  go  with  him  to  his  father. 

They  proceeded  thither, — were  ushered  into 
the  tent,  and,  after  some  brief  ceremony,  his 
father  opened  his  chest  and  took  presents  there 
from  for  the  newcomers.  He  discovered  that 
Na-na-ma-kee  had  given  his  medal  to  Nah-ma. 
He  told  him  that  he  had  done  wrong — he 
should  wear  that  medal  himself,  as  he  had 
others  for  his  brethren:  That  which  he  had 
given  him  was  a  type  of  the  rank  he  should 
hold  in  the  nation:  That  his  brothers  could 

*A11  the  European  nations  followed  the  practice  of 
giving  medals  to  the  friendly  leaders  of  the  Indians, 
a  custom  which  the  United  States  also  followed. 
The  medal  was  at  once  a  certificate  of  friendship 
and  a  mark  of  the  esteem  and  importance  with  which 
the  recipient  was  regarded. 

25 


ife  of  2Macft  J^atoft 


only  rank  as  civil  chiefs, —  and  their  duties 
should  consist  of  taking  care  of  the  village,  and 
attending  to  its  civil  concerns  —  whilst  his  rank, 
from  his  superior  knowledge,  placed  him  over 
them  all.  If  the  nation  gets  into  any  difficulty 
with  another,  then  his  puc-co-ha-wa-ma,  or 
sovereign  decree,  must  be  obeyed.  If  he  de 
clared  war,  he  must  [16]  lead  them  on  to  battle: 
That  the  Great  Spirit  had  made  him  a  great 
and  brave  general,  and  had  sent  him  here  to  give 
him  that  medal,  and  make  presents  to  him  for 
his  people. 

His  father  remained  four  days — during  which 
time  he  gave  him  guns,  powder  and  lead,  spears 
and  lances,  and  showed  him  their  use ;  —  so  that 
in  war  he  could  chastise  his  enemies, —  and  in 
peace  they  could  kill  buffalo,  deer,  and  other 
game,  necessary  for  the  comforts  and  luxuries 
of  life.  He  then  presented  the  others  with 
various  kinds  of  cooking  utensils,  and  learned 
them  their  uses,  —  and  having  given  them  a 
large  quantity  of  goods,  as  presents,  and  every 
other  thing  necessary  for  their  comfort,  he  set 
sail  for  France,  after  promising  to  meet  them 
again,  at  the  same  place,  after  the  twelfth  moon. 

The  three  newly-made  chiefs  returned  to 
their  village,  and  explained  to  Muk-a-ta-quet, 
their  father,  who  was  the  principal  chief  of  the 
nation,  what  had  been  said  and  done.  The  old 
chief  had  some  dogs  killed,  and  made  a  feast, 
preparatory  to  resigning  his  sceptre,  to  which 
all  the  nation  were  invited.  Great  anxiety 
26 


itife  of  SMacft 


prevailed  among  them,  to  know  what  the  three 
brothers  had  seen  and  heard, —  when  the  old 
chief  rose,  and  related  to  them  the  sayings  and 
doings  of  his  three  sons;  and  concluded  by 
observing,  that  "the  Great  Spirit  had  directed 
that  these,  his  three  children,  should  take  the 
rank  and  power  that  had  been  his, — and  that 
he  yielded  these  honors  and  duties  willingly  to 
them, — because  it  was  the  wish  of  the  [17] 
Great  Spirit,  and  he  could  never  consent  to 
make  him  angry!"  He  now  presented  the 
great  medicine  bag  to  Na-na-ma-kee,  and  told 
him,  "that  he  cheerfully  resigned  it  to  him — 
it  is  the  soul  of  our  nation — it  has  never  yet 
been  disgraced — and  I  will  expect  you  to  keep 
it  unsullied!" 

Some  dissension  arose  among  some  of  them, 
in  consequence  of  so  much  power  being  given 
to  Na-na-ma-kee,  he  being  so  young  a  man. 
To  quiet  this,  Na-na-ma-kee,  during  a  violent 
thunder  storm,  told  them  that  he  had  caiised  it! 
and  that  it  was  an  exemplification  of  the  name 
the  Great  Spirit  had  given  him.  During  this 
storm,  the  lightning  struck,  and  set  fire  to  a 
tree,  close  by;  (a  sight  they  had  never  witnessed 
before.)  He  went  to  it,  and  brought  away  some 
of  its  burning  branches,  made  a  fire  in  the 
lodge,  and  seated  his  brothers  thereby,  oppo 
site  to  each  other;  whilst  he  stood  up,  and 
addressed  his  people  as  follows: 

"I  am  yet  young — but  the  Great  Spirit  has 
called  me  to  the  rank  I  now  hold  among  you. 
27 


ife  of  <$fecEt  l^atoft 


I  have  never  sought  to  be  anything  more  than 
my  birth  entitled  me.  I  have  not  been  ambi 
tious —  nor  was  it  ever  my  wish,  whilst  my 
father  lives,  to  have  taken  his  place  —  nor  have 
I  now  usurped  his  powers.  The  Great  Spirit 
caused  me  to  dream  for  four  years, —  he  told 
me  where  to  go  and  meet  the  white  man,  who 
would  be  a  kind  father  to  us  all.  I  obeyed  his 
order.  I  went,  and  have  seen  our  new  father. 
You  have  all  heard  what  was  said  and  done. 
The  Great  Spirit  directed  him  to  come  and  meet 
me,  and  it  is  his  order  that  places  me  at  the 
head  of  my  nation, — the  place  which  my  father 
has  willingly  resigned. 

' '  You  have  all  witnessed  the  power  which  has 
been  given  to  me  by  the  Great  Spirit,  in  mak 
ing  that  fire — and  all  that  I  now  ask  is,  that 
these,  my  two  chiefs,  may  never  let  it  go  out : 
That  they  may  preserve  peace  among  you,  and 
administer  to  the  wants  of  the  needy:  And, 
should  an  enemy  invade  our  country,  I  will  then, 
but  not  until  then,  assume  command,  and  go 
forth  with  my  band  of  brave  warriors,  and 
endeavor  to  chastise  them!" 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  every  voice 
cried  out  for  Na-na-ma-kee!  All  were  satis 
fied,  when  they  found  that  the  Great  Spirit 
had  done,  what  they  had  suspected  was  the  work 
of  Na-na-ma-kee,  he  being  a  very  shrewd 
young  man. 

The  next  spring,  according  to  promise,  their 
French  father  returned,   with  his  na-pe-qua 
28 


ittfc  of  SSlacft 


richly  laden  with  goods,  which  were  distributed 
among  them.  He  continued  for  a  long  time 
to  keep  up  a  regular  trade  with  them  —  they 
giving  him,  in  exchange  for  his  goods,  furs 
and  peltries. 

After  a  long  time,  the  British  overpowered 
the  French,  (the  two  nations  being  at  war,) 
drove  them  away  from  Quebec,  and  took  pos 
session  of  it  themselves.  The  different  tribes 
of  Indians  around  our  nation,  envying  our 
people,  united  their  forces  against  them,  and 
succeeded,  by  their  great  strength,  to  drive 
them  to  Montreal,  and  from  thence  to  Mack- 
inac.  Here  our  people  first  met  our  British 
father,  who  fur-[i9]nished  them  with  goods. 
Their  enemies  still  pursued  them,  and  drove 
them  to  different  places  on  the  lake,  until  they 
made  a  village  near  Green  Bay,  on  what  is  now 
called  Sac  river,2  having  derived  its  name 
from  this  circumstance.  Here  they  held  a 
council  with  the  Foxes,  and  a  national  treaty 
of  friendship  and  alliance  was  concluded  upon. 
The  Foxes  abandoned  their  village,  and  joined 
the  Sacs.  This  arrangement  being  mutually 
obligatory  upon  both  parties,  as  neither  were 
sufficiently  strong  to  meet  their  enemies  with 
any  hope  of  success,  they  soon  became  as  one 

2  Modern  Fox  River.  This  account  of  Black  Hawk's 
family  and  tribal  history  is  in  part  legendary  and  in 
part  based  on  tradition.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  were 
in  Wisconsin  for  several  generations  before  the  over 
throw  of  the  French  in  America  by  the  British  in  the 
war  of  1755-63. 

29 


ttifc  of  25latft 


band  or  nation  of  people.  They  were  driven, 
however,  by  the  combined  forces  of  their 
enemies,  to  the  Wisconsin.  They  remained 
here  some  time,  until  a  party  of  their  young 
men,  (who  had  descended  Rock  river  to  its 
mouth,)  returned,  and  made  a  favorable  report 
of  the  country.  They  all  descended  Rock  river 
—  drove  the  Kas-kas-kias  from  the  country, 
and  commenced  the  erection  of  their  village, 
determined  never  to  leave  it. 

At  this  village  I  was  born,  being  a  regular 
descendant  of  the  first  chief,  Na-na-ma-kee,  or 
Thunder.  Few,  if  any,  events  of  note,  trans 
pired  within  my  recollection,  until  about  my 
fifteenth  year.  I  was  not  allowed  to  paint,  or 
wear  feathers;  but  distinguished  myself,  at  that 
early  age,  by  wounding  an  enemy;  consequently, 
I  was  placed  in  the  ranks  of  the  Braves! 

Soon  after  this,  a  leading  chief  of  the  Mus- 
cow  nation,  came  to  our  village  for  recruits  to 
go  to  war  against  the  Osages,  our  common 
enemy.3  I  volunteered  my  services  to  go, 
as  my  father  had  joined  him ;  [20]  and  was 
proud  to  have  an  opportunity  to  prove  to  him 
that  I  was  not  an  unworthy  son,  and  that  I  had 
courage  and  bravery.  It  was  not  long  before 
we  met  the  enemy,  when  a  battle  immediately 
ensued.  Standing  by  my  father's  side,  I  saw 
him  kill  his  antagonist,  and  tear  the  scalp  from 

3  The  Osage,  a  southern  Siouan  tribe,  whose  home 
was  on  the  Osage  River  of  Missouri,  was  commonly 
at  war  with  most  of  its  neighbors. 

30 


31  tfc  of  ©lath 


his  head.  Fired  with  valor  and  ambition,  I 
rushed  furiously  upon  another,  smote  him  to 
the  earth  with  my  tomahawk — run  my  lance 
through  his  body — took  off  his  scalp,  and 
returned  in  triumph  to  my  father!  He  said 
nothing,  but  looked  pleased.  This  was  the  first 
man  I  killed !  The  enemy's  loss  in  this  engage 
ment  having  been  great,  they  immediately 
retreated,  which  put  an  end  to  the  war  for  the 
present.  Our  party  then  returned  to  our  vil 
lage,  and  danced  over  the  scalps  we  had  taken. 
This  was  the  first  time  that  I  was  permitted  to 
join  in  a  scalp-dance. 

After  a  few  moons  had  passed,  (having 
acquired  considerable  fame  as  a  brave,)  I  led 
a  party  of  seven,  and  attacked  one  hundred 
Osages !  I  killed  one  man,  and  left  him  for 
my  comrades  to  scalp,  whilst  I  was  taking  an 
observation  of  the  strength  and  preparations 
of  the  enemy;  and,  finding  that  they  were  all 
equally  well  armed  with  ourselves,  I  ordered  a 
retreat,  and  came  off  without  losing  a  man! 
This  excursion  gained  for  me  great  applause, 
and  enabled  me,  before  a  great  while,  to  raise 
a  party  of  one  hundred  and  eighty,  to  go 
against  the  Osages.  We  left  our  village  in 
high  spirits,  and  marched  over  a  rugged  coun 
try,  until  we  reached  that  of  the  Osages,  on  the 
Missouri.  We  fol- [21]  lowed  their  trail  until 
we  arrived  at  their  village,  which  we  approached 
with  great  caution,  expecting  that  they  were 
all  there ;  but  found,  to  our  sorrow,  that  they 


3tifc  of  2Wacft  f  atofe 


had  deserted  it!  The  party  became  dissatis 
fied,  in  consequence  of  this  disappointment,— 
and  all,  with  the  exception  of  five,  dispersed 
and  returned  home.  I  then  placed  myself  at 
the  head  of  this  brave  little  band,  and  thanked 
the  Great  Spirit  that  so  many  remained, — 
and  took  up  the  trail  of  our  enemies,  with  a 
full  determination  never  to  return  without  some 
trophy  of  victory!  We  followed  on  for  several 
days — killed  one  man  and  a  boy,  and  then 
returned  with  their  scalps. 

In  consequence  of  this  mutiny  in  my  camp, 
I  was  not  again  enabled  to  raise  a  sufficient 
party  to  go  against  the  Osages,  until  about  my 
nineteenth  year.  During  this  interim,  they 
committed  many  outrages  on  our  nation  and 
people.  I  succeeded,  at  length,  in  recruiting 
two  hundred  efficient  warriors,  and  took  up  the 
line  of  march  early  in  the  morning.  In  a  few 
days  we  were  in  the  enemy's  country,  and  had 
not  traveled  far  before  we  met  an  equal  force 
to  contend  with.  A  general  battle  immediately 
commenced,  although  my  braves  were  consid 
erably  fatigued  by  forced  marches.  Each  party 
fought  desperately.  The  enemy  seemed  un 
willing  to  yield  the  ground,  and  we  were  deter 
mined  to  conquer  or  die !  A  large  number  of 
the  Osages  were  killed,  and  many  wounded, 
before  they  commenced  retreating.  A  band  of 
warriors  more  brave,  skilful,  and  efficient  than 
mine,  could  not  be  found.  In  this  engagement 
I  killed  five  men  and  one  squaw,  and  had  [22] 
32 


ill        ^w         ^ 


*     H 

a.  >. 


ilife  of  2Wack 


the  good  fortune  to  take  the  scalps  of  all  I 
struck,  except  one.  The  enemy's  loss  in  this 
engagement  was  about  one  hundred  men.  Ours 
nineteen.  We  now  returned  to  our  village, 
well  pleased  with  our  success,  and  danced  over 
the  scalps  we  had  taken. 

The  Osages,  in  consequence  of  their  great 
loss  in  this  battle,  became  satisfied  to  remain 
on  their  own  lands ;  and  ceased,  for  a  while, 
their  depredations  on  our  nation.  Our  atten 
tion,  therefore,  was  directed  towards  an  ancient 
enemy,  who  had  decoyed  and  murdered  some  of 
our  helpless  women  and  children.  I  started, 
with  my  father,  who  took  command  of  a  small 
party,  and  proceeded  against  the  enemy.  We 
met  near  Merimack,4  and  an  action  ensued ;  the 
Cherokees  having  greatly  the  advantage  in 
numbers.  Early  in  this  engagement  my  father 
was  wounded  in  the  thigh  —  but  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  killing  his  antagonist  before  he  fell. 
Seeing  that  he  had  fallen,  I  assumed  command, 
and  fought  desperately,  until  the  enemy  com 
menced  retreating  before  us.  I  returned  to 
my  father  to  administer  to  his  necessities,  but 
nothing  could  be  done  for  him.  The  medicine 
man  said  the  wound  was  mortal!  from  which 
he  soon  after  died!  In  this  battle  I  killed  three 
men,  and  wounded  several.  The  enemy's  loss 
being  twenty-eight,  and  ours  seven. 

I  now  fell  heir  to  the  great  medicine  bag  of 

4  Probably  the  Meramec  River,  a  westward  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi  a  short  distance  below  St.  Louis. 

33 


Eife  of  25Iacft  i^atoft 


my  forefathers,  which  had  belonged  to  my 
father.  I  took  it,  buried  our  dead,  and  returned 
with  my  party,  all  sad  and  sorrowful,  to  our 
village,  in  consequence  of  the  loss  of  my  father. 
Owing  to  this  misfortune,  I  blacked  my  [23] 
face,  fasted,  and  prayed  to  the  Great  Spirit  for 
five  years  —  during  which  time  I  remained  in  a 
civil  capacity,  hunting  and  fishing. 

The  Osages  having  commenced  aggressions 
on  our  people,  and  the  Great  Spirit  having 
taken  pity  on  me,  I  took  a  small  party  and 
went  against  the  enemy,  but  could  only  find 
six  men!  Their  forces  being  so  weak,  I 
thought  it  cowardly  to  kill  them, —  but  took 
them  prisoners,  and  carried  them  to  our  Spanish 
father  at  St.  Louis,  and  gave  them  up  to  him; 
and  then  returned  to  our  village.  Determined 
on  the  final  extermination  of  the  Osages,  for 
the  injuries  our  nation  and  people  had  received 
from  them,  I  commenced  recruiting  a  strong 
force,  immediately  on  my  return,  and  started, 
in  the  third  moon,  with  five  hundred  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  and  one  hundred  loways,  and  marched 
against  the  enemy.  We  continued  our  march 
for  several  days  before  we  came  upon  their 
trail,  which  was  discovered  late  in  the  day. 
We  encamped  for  the  night ;  made  an  early 
start  next  morning,  and  before  sun-down,  fell 
upon  forty-lodges,  and  killed  all  their  inhabi 
tants,  except  two  squaws!  whom  I  captured  and 
made  prisoners.  During  this  attack  I  killed 
seven  men  and  two  boys,  with  my  own  hand. 

34 


life  of  25Iacft 


In  this  engagement  many  of  the  bravest  war 
riors  among  the  Osages  were  killed,  which 
caused  the  balance  of  their  nation  to  remain 
on  their  own  lands,  and  cease  their  aggressions 
upon  our  hunting  grounds. 

The  loss  of  my  father,  by  the  Cherokees, 
made  me  anxious  to  avenge  his  death,  by  the 
annihilation,  if  pos-[24]sible,  of  all  their  race. 
I  accordingly  commenced  recruiting  another 
party  to  go  against  them.  Having  succeeded 
in  this,  I  started,  with  my  party,  and  went  into 
their  country,  but  only  found  five  of  their 
people,  whom  I  took  prisoners.  I  afterwards 
released  four  men — the  other,  a  young  squaw, 
we  brought  home.  Great  as  was  my  hatred 
for  this  people,  I  could  not  kill  so  small  a  party. 

During  the  close  of  the  ninth  moon,  I  led  a 
large  party  against  the  Chippewas,  Kaskaskias 
and  Osages.  This  was  the  commencement  of 
a  long  and  arduous  campaign,  which  terminated 
in  my  thirty-fifth  year ;  having  had  seven  reg 
ular  engagements,  and  a  number  of  small  skir 
mishes.  During  this  campaign,  several  hundred 
of  the  enemy  were  slain.  I  killed  thirteen  of 
their  bravest  warriors,  with  my  own  hand. 

Our  enemies  having  now  been  driven  from  our 
hunting  grounds,  with  so  great  a  loss  as  they 
sustained,  we  returned,  in  peace,  to  our  villages ; 
and,  after  the  seasons  of  mourning  and  burying 
our  dead  relations,  and  of  feast-dancing,  had 
passed,  we  commenced  preparations  for  our 
winter's  hunt,  in  which  we  were  very  successful. 
35 


itife  of  25Iacfe  fatoft 


We  generally  paid  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  every 
summer;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  protracted 
war  in  which  we  had  been  engaged,  I  had  not 
been  there  for  some  years.  Our  difficulties 
having  all  been  settled,  I  concluded  to  take  a 
small  party,  that  summer,  and  go  down  to  see 
our  Spanish  father.  We  went — and  on  our 
arrival,  put  up  our  lodges  where  the  market- 
house  now  stands.  After  painting  and  dress 
ing,  we  called  to  [25]  see  our  Spanish  father, 
and  were  well  received.  He  gave  us  a  variety 
of  presents,  and  plenty  of  provisions.  We 
danced  through  the  town  as  usual,  and  its 
inhabitants  all  seemed  to  be  well  pleased. 
They  appeared  to  us  like  brothers  —  and  always 
gave  us  good  advice. 

On  my  next,  and  last  visit  to  my  Spanish 
father,  I  discovered,  on  landing,  that  all  was 
not  right:  every  countenance  seemed  sad  and 
gloomy!  I  inquired  the  cause,  and  was  in 
formed  that  the  Americans  were  coming  to 
take  possession  of  the  town  and  country!  —  and 
that  we  should  then  lose  our  Spanish  father!5 
This  news  made  myself  and  band  sad — because 
we  had  always  heard  bad  accounts  of  the  Amer 
icans  from  Indians  who  had  lived  near  them! 
—  and  we  were  sorry  to  lose  our  Spanish 

5  By  a  secret  treaty  Louisiana  had  been  transferred 
from  Spain  to  France  in  1800.  Without  ever  having 
taken  formal  possession  of  the  country,  Napoleon 
sold  it  to  the  United  States  in  1803.  Black  Hawk 
was  apparently  unaware  of  the  part  played  by  France 
in  the  transfer. 

36 


3tife  of  2Wacft 


father,  who  had  always  treated  us  with  great 
friendship. 

A  few  days  afterwards  the  Americans 
arrived.  I  took  my  band,  and  went  to  take 
leave,  for  the  last  time,  of  our  father.  The 
Americans  came  to  see  him  also.  Seeing  them 
approach,  we  passed  out  at  one  door,  as  they 
entered  another — and  immediately  started,  in 
canoes,  for  our  village  on  Rock  river — not 
liking  the  change  any  more  than  our  friends 
appeared  to,  at  St.  Louis. 

On  arriving  at  our  village,  we  gave  the  news, 
that  strange  people  had  taken  St.  Louis — and 
that  we  should  never  see  our  Spanish  father 
again !  This  information  made  all  our  people 
sorry ! 

Some  time  afterwards,  a  boat  came  up  the 
river,  with  a  young  American  chief,  [Lieutenant 
(afterwards  Gen-[26]  eral)  Pike,]  and  a  small 
party  of  soldiers.  We  heard  of  him,  (by  run 
ners,)  soon  after  he  had  passed  Salt  river. 
Some  of  our  young  braves  watched  him  every 
day,  to  see  what  sort  of  people  he  had  on  board. 
The  boat,  at  length,  arrived  at  Rock  river,  and 
the  young  chief  came  on  shore  with  his  inter 
preter —  made  a  speech,  and  gave  us  some 
presents.  We,  in  return,  presented  him  with 
meat,  and  such  provisions  as  we  could  spare. 

We  were  all  well  pleased  with  the  speech  of 

the  young  chief.     He  gave  us  good  advice; 

said  our  American  father  would  treat  us  well. 

He  presented  us  an  American  flag,  which  was 

37 


•ttife  of  2&lacft 


hoisted.  He  then  requested  us  to  pull  down 
our  British  flags — and  give  him  our  British 
medals  —  promising  to  send  us  others  on  his 
return  to  St.  Louis.  This  we  declined,  as  we 
wished  to  have  two  Fathers! 

When  the  young  chief  started,  we  sent  run 
ners  to  the  Fox  village,  some  miles  distant,  to 
direct  them  to  treat  him  well  as  he  passed  — 
which  they  did.  He  went  to  the  head  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  then  returned  to  St.  Louis. 
We  did  not  see  any  Americans  again  for  some 
time, — being  supplied  with  goods  by  British 
traders. 

We  were  fortunate  in  not  giving  up  our 
medals  —  for  we  learned  afterwards,  from  our 
traders,  that  the  chiefs  high  up  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  who  gave  theirs,  never  received  any  in 
exchange  for  them.  But  the  fault  was  not 
with  the  young  American  chief.  He  was  a 
good  man,  and  a  great  brave  —  and  died  in  his 
country's  service. 

[27]  Some  moons  after  this  young  chief 
descended  the  Mississippi,  one  of  our  people 
killed  an  American — and  was  confined,  in  the 
prison  at  St.  Louis,  for  the  offence.6  We 
held  a  council  at  our  village  to  see  what  could 

6  Black  Hawk  is  mistaken  here  as  to  the  sequence 
of  events.  The  murder  of  the  Americans  (three  in 
stead  of  one  were  killed)  occurred  in  the  summer  of 
1804,  and  was  followed  by  Governor  Harrison's 
treaty  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  in  October  of  the 
same  year.  Zebulpn  Pike's  expedition  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  took  place  in  1805-6. 

38 


Eife  of  25Iacft 


be  done  for  him, — which  determined  that 
Quash-qua-me,  Pa-she-pa-ho,  Oti-che-qua-ka, 
and  Ha-she-quar-hi-qua,  should  go  down  to 
St.  Louis,  see  our  American  father,  and  do  all 
they  could  to  have  our  friend  released  ;  by 
paying  for  the  person  killed  —  thus  covering 
the  blood,  and  satisfying  the  relations  of  the 
man  murdered!  This  being  the  only  means 
with  us  of  saving  a  person  who  had  killed 
another — and  we  then  thought  it  was  the  same 
way  with  the  whites! 

The  party  started  with  the  good  wishes  of 
the  whole  nation  —  hoping  they  would  accom 
plish  the  object  of  their  mission.  The  relatives 
of  the  prisoner  blacked  their  faces,  and  fasted 
— hoping  the  Great  Spirit  would  take  pity  on 
them,  and  return  the  husband  and  father  to  his 
wife  and  children. 

Quash-qua-me  and  party  remained  a  long 
time  absent.  They  at  length  returned,  and 
encamped  a  short  distance  below  the  village  — 
but  did  not  come  up  that  day — nor  did  any 
person  approach  their  camp!  They  appeared 
to  be  dressed  in  fine  coats  and  had  medals! 
From  these  circumstances,  we  were  in  hopes 
that  they  had  brought  good  news.  Early  the 
next  morning,  the  Council  Lodge  was  crowded 
—  Quash-qua-me  and  party  came  up,  and  gave 
us  the  following  account  of  their  mission: 

"On  their  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  they  met 
their  [28]  American  father,  and  explained  to 
him  their  business,  and  urged  the  release  of 
39 


Sife  of  OTacft  J^atoft 


their  friend.  The  American  chief  told  them 
he  wanted  land  —  and  they  had  agreed  to  give 
him  some  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  some  on  the  Illinois  side  opposite  the  Jef- 
freon.  When  the  business  was  all  arranged, 
they  expected  to  have  their  friend  released  to 
come  home  with  them.  But  about  the  time 
they  were  ready  to  start,  their  friend  was  let  out 
of  prison,  who  ran  a  short  distance,  and  was  shot 
dead!  This  is  all  they  could  recollect  of  what 
was  said  and  done.  They  had  been  drunk  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  they  were  in  St.  Louis." 

This  is  all  myself  or  nation  knew  of  the  treaty 
of  1804.  It  has  been  explained  to  me  since.  I 
find,  by  that  treaty,  all  our  country,  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  south  of  the  Jeff  reon,  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States  for  one  thousand  dollars  a 
year!  I  will  leave  it  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  say,  whether  our  nation  was  properly 
represented  in  this  treaty?  or  whether  we  receiv 
ed  a  fair  compensation  for  the  extent  of  country 
ceded  by  those  four  individuals  ?  I  could  say 
much  about  this  treaty,  but  I  will  not,  at  this 
time.  It  has  been  the  origin  of  all  our  difficulties. 

Some  time  after  this  treaty  was  made,  a  war 
chief,  with  a  party  of  soldiers,  came  up  in  keel 
boats,  and  encamped  a  short  distance  above 
the  head  of  the  DesMoines  rapids,  and  com 
menced  cutting  timber  and  building  houses.7 

7  This   refers   to   the  erection  of   Fort   Madison, 
Iowa,  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1808.     For  its  history 
see  Annals  of  Iowa,  Third  Series,  III,  97-110. 
40 


Sife  of  25iacft 


The  news  of  their  arrival  was  soon  carried  to 
all  the  villages — when  council  after  council 
was  held.  We  could  not  understand  the  inten 
tion,  or  reason,  why  [29]  the  Americans  wanted 
to  build  houses  at  that  place — but  were  told 
that  they  were  a  party  of  soldiers,  who  had 
brought  great  guns  with  them  —  and  looked 
liked  a  war  party  of  whites! 

A  number  of  our  people  immediately  went 
down  to  see  what  was  doing — myself  among 
them.  On  our  arrival,  we  found  they  were 
building  zfort!  The  soldiers  were  busily  en 
gaged  in  cutting  timber ;  'and  I  observed  that 
they  took  their  arms  with  them,  when  they 
went  to  the  woods — and  the  whole  party  acted 
as  they  would  do  in  an  enemy's  country!  The 
chiefs  held  a  council  with  the  officers,  or  head 
men,  of  the  party — which  I  did  not  attend — 
but  understood  from  them  that  the  war  chief 
had  said,  that  they  were  building  houses  for  a 
trader,  who  was  coming  there  to  live,  and 
would  sell  us  goods  very  cheap!  and  that  these 
soldiers  were  to  remain  to  keep  him  company! 
We  were  pleased  at  this  information,  and  hoped 
it  was  all  true  —  but  we  could  not  believe  that 
all  these  buildings  were  intended  merely  for  the 
accommodation  of  a  trader!  Being  distrustful, 
of  their  intentions,  we  were  anxious  for  them 
to  leave  off  building,  and  go  down  the  river 
again.  By  this  time,  a  considerable  number 
of  Indians  had  arrived,  to  see  what  was  doing. 
I  discovered  that  the  whites  were  alarmed! 


Eife  of  SMacft  J^atofe 


Some  of  our  young  men  watched  a  party  of 
soldiers,  who  went  out  to  work,  carrying  their 
arms — which  were  laid  aside,  before  they  com 
menced.  Having  stole  up  quietly  to  the  spot, 
they  seized  the  guns  and  gave  a  yell!  The 
party  threw  down  their  axes,  and  ran  for  [30] 
their  arms,  but  found  them  gone!  and  them 
selves  surrounded!  Our  young  men  laughed 
at  them,  and  returned  them  their  guns. 

When  this  party  came  to  the  fort,  they 
reported  what  had  been  done,  and  the  war  chief 
made  a  serious  affair  of  it.  He  called  our 
chiefs  to  council,  inside  of  his  fort.  This  cre 
ated  considerable  excitement  in  our  camp — 
every  one  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  to 
be  done — and  the  picketing  which  had  been 
put  up,  being  low — every  Indian  crowded 
round  the  fort,  and  got  upon  blocks  of  wood, 
and  old  barrels,  that  they  might  see  what  was 
going  on  inside.  Some  were  armed  with  guns, 
and  others  with  bows  and  arrows.  We  used 
this  precaution,  seeing  that  the  soldiers  had 
their  guns  loaded — and  having  seen  them  load 
their  big  gun  that  morning ! 

A  party  of  our  braves  commenced  dancing, 
and  proceeded  up  to  the  gate,  with  an  intention 
of  going  in,  but  were  stopped.  The  council 
immediately  broke  up — the  soldiers,  with  their 
arms  in  their  hands,  rushed  out  of  their  rooms, 
where  they  had  been  concealed — the  cannon 
was  hauled  in  front  of  the  gateway — and  a 
soldier  came  running  with  fire  in  his  hand, 
42 


life  of  2Wacft 


ready  to  apply  the  match.  Our  braves  gave 
way,  and  all  retired  to  the  camp. 

There  was  no  preconcerted  plan  to  attack 
the  whites  at  that  time — but  I  am  of  opinion 
now,  had  our  party  got  into  the  fort,  all 
the  whites  would  have  been  killed — as  the 
British  soldiers  had  been  at  Mackinac  many 
years  before. 

[31]  We  broke  up  our  camp,  and  returned 
to  Rock  river.  A  short  time  afterwards,  the 
fort  party  received  a  reinforcement  —  among 
whom  we  observed  some  of  our  old  friends 
from  St.  Louis. 

Soon  after  our  return  from  fort  Madison, 
runners  came  to  our  village  from  the  Shawnee 
Prophet*  (whilst  others  were  despatched  by 
him  to  the  villages  of  the  Winnebagoes,)  with 
invitations  for  us  to  meet  him  on  the  Wabash. 
Accordingly  a  party  went  from  each  village. 

All  of  our  party  returned,  among  whom  came 
a  Prophet,  who  explained  to  us  the  bad  treat 
ment  the  different  nations  of  Indians  had  re 
ceived  from  the  Americans,  by  giving  them  a 
few  presents,  and  taking  their  land  from  them. 
I  remember  well  his  saying, — "If  you  do  not 
join  your  friends  on  the  Wabash,  the  Americans 
will  take  this  very  village  from  you  /  "  I  little 
thought,  then,  that  his  words  would  come  true ! 

8 The  brother  of  Tecumseh.  For  an  account  of 
the  enterprise  carried  on  by  these  two  men  see 
Quaife,  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest,  1673-1835, 
chap.  VIII. 

43 


Itife  of  2£>Iacft 


Supposing  that  he  used  these  arguments  merely 
to  encourage  us  to  join  him,  we  agreed  that  we 
would  not.  He  then  returned  to  the  Wabash, 
where  a  party  of  Winnebagoes  had  arrived, 
and  preparations  were  making  for  war!  A 
battle  soon  ensued,9  in  which  several  Winne 
bagoes  were  killed.  As  soon  as  their  nation 
heard  of  this  battle,  and  that  some  of  their 
people  had  been  killed,  they  started  war  parties 
in  different  directions.  One  to  the  mining 
country;  one  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  another 
to  fort  Madison.  This  last  returned  by  our 
village,  and  exhibited  several  scalps  which  they 
had  [32]  taken.  Their  success  induced  several 
other  parties  to  go  against  the  fort.  Myself 
and  several  of  my  band  joined  the  last  party, 
and  were  determined  to  take  the  fort.10  We 
arrived  in  the  vicinity  during  the  night.  The 
spies  that  we  had  sent  out  several  days  before, 
to  watch  the  movements  of  those  at  the  garri 
son,  and  ascertain  their  numbers,  came  to  us, 
and  gave  the  following  information : — ' '  That 
a  keel-boat  had  arrived  from  below  that  even 
ing,  with  seventeen  men;  that  there  were  about 
fifty  men  in  the  fort,  and  that  they  marched 
out  every  morning  at  sunrise,  to  exercise." 
It  was  immediately  determined  that  we  should 

9 The  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  November  7,  1811. 

10 This  attack  on  Fort  Madison  was  begun  Septem 
ber  5,  1812,  almost  a  year  after  the  battle  of  Tippe 
canoe.  It  was  precipitated  probably  by  the  fall  of 
Detroit,  Mackinac,  and  Fort  Dearborn  in  the  summer 
of  1812,  rather  than  by  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe. 

44 


Hife  of  2&toth  l?atoh 


take  a  position  as  near  as  we  could,  (to  conceal 
ourselves,)  to  the  place  where  the  soldiers 
would  come;  and  when  the  signal  was  given, 
each  man  to  fire,  and  then  rush  into  the  fort. 
I  dug  a  hole  with  my  knife,  deep  enough  (by 
placing  a  few  weeds  around  it,)  to  conceal 
myself.  I  was  so  near  to  the  fort  that  I  could 
hear  the  sentinel  walking.  By  day-break,  I 
had  finished  my  work,  and  was  anxiously  await 
ing  the  rising  of  the  sun.  The  drum  beat;  I 
examined  the  priming  of  my  gun,  and  eagerly 
watched  for  the  gate  to  open.  It  did  open — 
but  instead  of  the  troops  marching  out,  a  young 
man  came  alone.  The  gate  closed  after  him. 
He  passed  close  by  me  —  so  near  that  I  could 
have  killed  him  with  my  knife ,  but  I  let  him  pass. 
He  kept  the  path  towards  the  river;  and  had 
he  went  one  step  out  of  it,  he  must  have  come 
upon  us,  and  would  have  been  killed.  He 
returned  immediately,  and  entered  the  gate. 
I  [33]  would  now  have  rushed  for  the  gate, 
and  entered  it  with  him,  but  I  feared  that  our 
party  was  not  prepared  to  follow  me. 

The  gate  opened  again — four  men  came  out, 
and  went  down  to  the  river  after  wood.  Whilst 
they  were  gone,  another  man  came  out,  and 
walked  towards  the  river — was  fired  upon  and 
killed  by  a  Winnebago.  The  others  immedi 
ately  ran  for  the  fort,  and  two  of  them  were 
killed.  We  then  took  shelter  under  the  bank 
out  of  reach  of  fire  from  the  fort. 

The  firing  now  commenced  from  both  parties 
45 


Itife  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


and  continued  all  day.  I  advised  our  party 
to  set  fire  to  the  fort,  and  commenced  prepar 
ing  arrows  for  that  purpose.  At  night  we 
made  the  attempt,  and  succeeded  to  fire  the 
buildings  several  times,  but  without  effect,  as 
the  fire  was  always  instantly  extinguished. 

The  next  day  I  took  my  rifle,  and  shot  in  two 
the  cord  by  which  they  hoisted  their  flag,  and 
prevented  them  from  raising  it  again.  We 
continued  firing  until  all  our  ammunition  was 
expended;  and  finding  that  we  could  not  take 
the  fort,  returned  home,  having  had  one  Win- 
nebago  killed,  and  one  wounded,  during  the 
siege.  I  have  since  learned  that  the  trader, 
who  lived  in  the  fort,  wounded  the  Winnebago 
when  he  was  scalping  the  first  man  that  was 
killed !  The  Winnebago  recovered,  is  now  liv 
ing,  and  is  very  friendly  disposed  towards  the 
trader,  believing  him  to  be  a  great  brave! 

Soon  after  our  return  home,  news  reached 
us  that  a  war  was  going  to  take  place  between 
the  British  and  [34]  the  Americans.  Runners 
continued  to  arrive  from  different  tribes,  all 
confirming  the  report  of  the  expected  war. 
The  British  agent,  Col.  Dixon,11  was  holding 

11  Robert  Dickson,  the  British  trader,  played  an 
important  role  in  the  West  during  the  War  of  1812, 
being  very  influential  in  stirring  up  the  Indians  to 
assist  the  British  in  the  war.  His  relations  with 
Black  Hawk  and  the  Sacs  are  set  forth  in  the  fol 
lowing  pages.  A  great  deal  of  material  upon  Dickson 
has  been  published  in  the  different  volumes  of  the 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections. 
46 


Stfe  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


talks  with,  and  making  presents  to,  the  differ 
ent  tribes.  I  had  not  made  up  my  mind 
whether  to  join  the  British  or  remain  neutral. 
I  had  not  discovered  one  good  trait  in  the  char 
acter  of  the  Americans  that  had  come  to  the^ 
country!  They  made  fair  promises,  but  never 
fulfilled  them!  Whilst  the  British  made  but 
few — but  we  could  always  rely  upon  their  word! 
One  of  our  people  having  killed  a  Frenchman 
at  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  British  took  him  pris-  N 
oner,  and  said  they  would  shoot  him  the  next 
day! 12  His  family  were  encamped  a  short  dis 
tance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsin.  He 
begged  for  permission  to  go  and  see  them  that 
night,  as  he  was  to  die  the  next  day!  They 
permitted  him  to  go,  after  promising  to  return 
the  next  morning  by  sunrise.  He  visited  his 
family,  which  consisted  of  a  wife  and  six  chil 
dren.  I  cannot  describe  their  meeting  and 
parting,  to  be  understood  by  the  whites ;  as  it 
appears  that  their  feelings  are  acted  upon  by 
certain  rules  laid  down  by  their  preachers! — 
whilst  ours  are  governed  only  by  the  monitor 
within  us.  He  parted  from  his  wife  and  chil 
dren,  hurried  through  the  prairie  to  the  fort, 
and  arrived  in  time!  The  soldiers  were  ready, 
and  immediately  marched  out  and  shot  him 

12 This  evidently  occurred  during  the  British  occu 
pation  of  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1814-15.  An  enter 
taining  account  of  such  an  affair  is  to  be  found  in 
"The  Captive,"  one  of  a  collection  of  Indian  tales 
in  William  J.  Snelling's  Tales  of  the  Northwest-,  or 
Sketches  of  Indian  Life  and  Character  (Boston,  1830). 

47 


ilife  of  25Iacft 


down!  I  visited  his  family,  and  by  hunting  and 
fishing,  provided  for  them  until  they  reached 
their  relations. 

[35]  Why  did  the  Great  Spirit  ever  send  the 
whites  to  this  island,  to  drive  us  from  our 
homes,  and  introduce  among  us  poisonous 
liquors,  disease  and  death?  They  should  have 
remained  on  the  island  where  the  Great  Spirit 
first  placed  them.  But  I  will  proceed  with 
my  story.  My  memory,  however,  is  not  very 
good,  since  my  late  visit  to  the  white  people. 
I  have  still  a  buzzing  in  my  ears,  from  the 
noise  —  and  may  give  some  parts  of  my  story 
out  of  place  ;  but  I  will  endeavor  to  be  correct. 

Several  of  our  chiefs  and  head  men  were 
called  upon  to  go  to  Washington,  to  see  their 
Great  Father.  They  started ;  and  during  their 
absence,  I  went  to  Peoria,  on  the  Illinois  river, 
to  see  an  old  friend,  a  trader,13  to  get  his  advice. 
He  was  a  man  that  always  told  us  the  truth, 
and  knew  every  thing  that  was  going  on.  When 
I  arrived  at  Peoria,  he  was  not  there,  but  had 

13  This  was  Thomas  Forsyth  who  for  a  decade 
prior  to  the  War  of  1812  had  been  engaged  in  the  fur 
trade  at  Peoria,  operating  in  partnership  with  his 
half  brother,  John  Kinzie  of  Chicago.  In  April, 
1812,  Forsyth  was  made  sub-agent  of  Indian  affairs, 
and  during  the  war  labored  valiantly  to  uphold  Amer 
ican  interests  in  the  region  over  which  he  was  influ 
ential  with  the  natives.  In  1819  he  was  appointed 
Indian  agent  at  Fort  Armstrong  (Rock  Island),  in 
which  position  he  continued  until  1830.  For  much 
material  on  his  career  see  the  volumes  of  the  Wis 
consin  Historical  Collections. 

48 


ttife  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


gone  to  Chicago.  I  visited  the  Pottawatomie 
villages,  and  then  returned  to  Rock  river. 
Soon  after  which,  our  friends  returned  from 
their  visit  to  our  Great  Father — and  related 
what  had  been  said  and  done.  Their  Great 
Father  (they  said)  wished  us,  in  the  event  of  a 
war  taking  place  with  England,  not  to  interfere 
on  either  side — but  to  remain  neutral.  He 
did  not  want  our  help — but  wished  us  to  hunt 
and  support  our  families,  and  live  in  peace.14 
He  said  that  British  traders  would  not  be  per 
mitted  to  come  on  the  Mississippi,  to  furnish 
us  with  goods — but  we  would  be  well  supplied 
by  an  American  trader.15  Our  chiefs  [36]  then 
told  him  that  the  British  traders  always  gave 
us  credits  in  the  fall,  for  guns,  powder  and 

14  Black   Hawk  here   states  fairly  the  American 
policy  with  respect  to  Indian  participation  in  the  war 
for  several  years  prior  to  its  commencement  and 
for  some  time  after  this  event.     It  proved  a  losing 
policy,  however,  and  before  the  close  of  the  war  the 
Americans,  like  the  British,  were  actively  seeking 
the  assistance  of  the  red  men. 

15  Due  to  the  insistence  of  President  Washington, 
the  American  government  had  established  a  system 
of  government  trading  houses  or  "factories"  for 
supplying  the   Indians  with  goods   at   fair  prices. 
One  of  these  was  located  at  Fort  Madison,  and  the 
"trader"  referred  to  was  the  factor,  a  salaried  em 
ployee  of  the  government.     No  comprehensive  ac 
count  of  the  government  factory  system  has  ever 
been  written.     For  a  tentative  sketch  of  its  rise  and 
fall,  written  with  especial  reference  to  the  operations 
of  the  Chicago  factory,  see  Quaife,  op.  cit.,  chap. 
XIII. 

49 


3tife  of  S&lacfe 


goods,  to  enable  us  to  hunt,  and  clothe  our 
families.  He  replied  that  the  trader  at  fort 
Madison  would  have  plenty  of  goods  —  that  we 
should  go  there  in  the  fall,  and  he  would  sup 
ply  us  on  credit,  as  the  British  traders  had 
done.  The  party  gave  a  good  account  of 
what  they  had  seen,  and  the  kind  treatment 
they  received. 

This  information  pleased  us  all  very  much. 
We  all  agreed  to  follow  our  Great  Father's 
advice,  and  not  interfere  with  the  war.  Our 
women  were  much  pleased  at  this  good  news. 
Every  thing  went  on  cheerfully  in  our  village. 
We  resumed  our  pastimes  of  playing  ball, 
horse  racing,  and  dancing,  which  had  been 
laid  aside  when  this  great  war  was  first  talked 
about. 

We  had  fine  crops  of  corn,  which  were  now 
ripe  —  and  our  women  were  engaged  in  gather 
ing  it,  and  making  cashes  to  contain  it.  In  a 
short  time  we  were  ready  to  start  to  fort  Madi 
son,  to  get  our  supply  of  goods,  that  we  might 
proceed  to  our  hunting  grounds.  We  passed 
merrily  down  the  river — all  in  high  spirits. 
I  had  determined  to  spend  the  winter  at  my 
old  favorite  hunting  ground,  on  Skunk  river, 
and  left  part  of  my  corn  and  mats  at  its  mouth, 
to  take  up  when  I  returned:  others  did  the 
same.  Next  morning  we  arrived  at  the  fort, 
and  made  our  encampment.  Myself  and  prin 
cipal  men  paid  a  visit  to  the  war  chief  at  the 
fort.  He  received  us  kindly,  and  gave  us 
50 


Htfe  of  SMacfe 


some  [37]  tobacco,  pipes  and  provision.  The 
trader  came  in,  and  we  all  rose  and  shook 
hands  with  him — for  on  him  all  our  depend 
ence  was  placed,  to  enable  us  to  hunt,  and 
thereby  support  our  families.  We  waited  a 
long  time,  expecting  the  trader  would  tell  us 
that  he  had  orders  from  our  Great  Father  to 
supply  us  with  goods  —  but  he  said  nothing  on 
the  subject.  I  got  up,  and  told  him,  in  a  short 
speech,  what  we  had  come  for — and  hoped  he 
had  plenty  of  goods  to  supply  us  —  and  told 
him  that  he  should  be  well  paid  in  the  spring 
—  and  concluded,  by  informing  him,  that  we 
had  determined  to  follow  our  Great  Father's 
advice,  and  not  go  to  war. 

He  said  that  he  was  happy  to  hear  that  we 
intended  to  remain  at  peace.  That  he  had  a 
large  quantity  of  goods;  and  that,  if  we  made 
a  good  hunt,  we  would  be  well  supplied:  but 
remarked,  that  he  had  received  no  instructions 
to  furnish  us  any  thing  on  credit! — nor  could 
he  give  us  any  without  receiving  the  pay  for 
them  on  the  spot! 

We  informed  him  what  our  Great  Father  had 
told  our  chiefs  at  Washington  —  and  contended 
that  he  could  supply  us  if  he  would — believing 
that  our  Great  Father  always  spoke  the  truth! 
But  the  war  chief  said  that  the  trader  could 
not  furnish  us  on  credit  —  and  that  he  had 
received  no  instructions  from  our  Great  Father 
at  Washington!  We  left  the  fort  dissatisfied, 
and  went  to  our  camp.  What  was  now  to  be 


Hife  of  25Iacft  I^atoft 


done,  we  knew  not.  We  questioned  the  party 
that  [38]  brought  us  the  news  from  our  Great 
Father,  that  we  would  get  credit  for  our  win 
ter's  supplies,  at  this  place.  They  still  told 
the  same  story,  and  insisted  upon  its  truth. 
Few  of  us  slept  that  night  —  all  was  gloom  and 
discontent! 

In  the  morning,  a  canoe  was  seen  descend 
ing  the  river — it  soon  arrived,  bearing  an 
express,  who  brought  intelligence  that  La 
Gutrie,  a  British  trader,  had  landed  at  Rock 
Island,  with  two  boats  loaded  with  goods  — 
and  requested  us  to  come  up  immediately — 
because  he  had  good  news  for  us  and  a  variety 
of  presents.  The  express  presented  us  with 
tobacco,  pipes  and  wampum. 

The  news  run  through  our  camp  like  fire  in 
the  prairie.  Our  lodges  were  soon  taken  down, 
and  all  started  for  Rock  Island.  Here  ended 
all  hopes  of  our  remaining  at  peace  —  having 
been  forced  into  WAR  by  being  DECEIVED! 

Our  party  were  not  long  in  getting  to  Rock 
Island.  When  we  came  in  sight,  and  saw  tents 
pitched,  we  yelled,  fired  our  guns,  and  com 
menced  beating  our  drums.  Guns  were  im 
mediately  fired  at  the  island,  returning  our 
salute  and  a  British  flag  hoisted!  We  landed, 
and  were  cordially  received  by  La  Gutrie  — 
and  then  smoked  the  pipe  with  him!  After 
which  he  made  a  speech  to  us,  that  had  been 
sent  by  Colonel  Dixon,  and  gave  us  a  number 
of  handsome  presents — a  large  silk  flag,  and  a 
52 


Sife  of  SMacft 


keg  of  rum,  and  told  us  to  retire  —  take  some 
refreshments  and  rest  ourselves,  as  he  would 
have  more  to  say  to  us  on  the  next  day. 

[39]  We,  accordingly,  retired  to  our  lodges, 
(which  had  been  put  up  in  the  mean  time,) 
and  spent  the  night.  The  next  morning  we 
called  upon  him,  and  told  him  that  we  wanted 
his  two  boats'  load  of  goods  to  divide  among 
our  people  —  for  which  he  should  be  well  paid 
in  the  spring  with  furs  and  peltries.  He  con 
sented —  told  us  to  take  them  —  and  do  as  we 
pleased  with  them.  Whilst  our  people  were 
dividing  the  goods,  he  took  me  aside,  and  in 
formed  me  that  Col.  Dixon  was  at  Green  Bay, 
with  twelve  boats,  loaded  with  goods,  guns, 
and  ammunition  —  and  wished  me  to  raise  a 
party  immediately  and  go  to  him.  He  said 
that  our  friend,  the  trader  at  Peoria,  was  col 
lecting  the  Pottawatomies,  and  would  be  there 
before  us.  I  communicated  this  information 
to  my  braves,  and  a  party  of  two  hundred  war 
riors  were  soon  collected  and  ready  to  depart. 

I  paid  a  visit  to  the  lodge  of  an  old  friend, 
who  had  been  the  comrade  of  my  youth,  and 
had  been  in  many  war  parties  with  me,  but 
was  now  crippled,  and  no  longer  able  to 
travel.  He  had  a  son  that  I  had  adopted  as 
my  own,  who  had  hunted  with  me  the  two 
preceding  winters.  I  wished  my  old  friend  to 
let  him  go  with  me.  He  objected,  saying  that 
he  could  not  get  his  support  if  his  son  left  him: 
that  I,  (who  had  always  provided  for  him  since 
53 


Hife  of  2Macfc 


he  got  lame,)  would  be  gone,  and  he  had  no 
other  dependence  than  his  son.  I  offered  to 
leave  my  son  in  his  place  —  but  he  still  refused. 
He  said  he  did  not  like  the  war  —  he  had  been 
[40]  down  the  river,  and  had  been  well  treated 
by  the  Americans,  and  could  not  fight  against 
them.  He  had  promised  to  winter  near  a 
white  settler  above  Salt  river,  and  must  take 
his  son  with  him.  We  parted.  I  soon  con 
cluded  my  arrangements,  and  started  with  my 
party  to  Green  Bay.  On  our  arrival  there,  we 
found  a  large  encampment,  and  were  well  re 
ceived  by  Dixon,  and  the  war  chiefs  that  were 
with  him.  He  gave  us  plenty  of  provisions, 
tobacco  and  pipes,  and  said  he  would  hold  a 
council  with  us  the  next  day. 

In  the  encampment,  I  found  a  large  number 
of  Pottowatomies,  Kickapoos,  Ottawas  and 
Winnebagoes.  I  visited  all  their  camps,  and 
found  them  in  high  spirits.  They  had  all  re 
ceived  new  guns,  ammunition,  and  a  variety  of 
clothing.  In  the  evening  a  messenger  came 
to  me  to  visit  Col.  Dixon.  I  went  to  his  tent, 
in  which  were  two  other  war  chiefs,  and  an 
interpreter.  He  received  me  with  a  hearty 
shake  of  the  hand,  and  presented  me  to  the 
other  chiefs,  who  shook  my  hand  cordially,  and 
seemed  much  pleased  to  see  me.  After  I  was 
seated,  Col.  Dixon  said:  "Gen.  Black  Hawk, 
I  sent  for  you,  to  explain  to  you  what  we  are 
going  to  do,  and  the  reasons  that  have  brought 
us  here.  Our  friend,  La  Gutrie,  informs  us 
54 


Eife  of  25Iatft 


in  the  letter  you  brought  from  him,  what  has 
lately  taken  place.  You  will  now  have  to  hold 
us  fast  by  the  hand.  Your  English  father  has 
found  out  that  the  Americans  want  to  take 
your  country  from  you — and  has  sent  me  and 
[41]  his  braves  to  drive  them  back  to  their  own 
country.  He  has,  likewise,  sent  a  large  quan 
tity  of  arms  and  ammunition  —  and  we  want 
all  your  warriors  to  join  us." 

He  then  placed  a  medal  round  my  neck, 
and  gave  me  a  paper,  (which  I  lost  in  the  late 
war,)  and  a  silk  flag,  saying — "You  are  to 
command  all  the  braves  that  will  leave  here 
the  day  after  to-morrow,  to  join  our  braves 
near  Detroit." 

I  told  him  that  I  was  very  much  disappointed 
—  as  I  wanted  to  descend  the  Mississippi,  and 
make  war  upon  the  settlements.  He  said  he 
had  been  "ordered  to  lay  the  country  waste 
around  St.  Louis — that  he  had  been  a  trader  on 
the  Mississippi  many  years — had  always  been 
kindly  treated,  and  could  not  consent  to  send 
brave  men  to  murder  women  and  children!  That 
there  were  no  soldiers  there  to  fight;  but  where 
he  was  going  to  send  us,  there  were  a  number  of 
soldiers:  and,  if  we  defeated  them,  the  Missis 
sippi  country  should  be  ours!"  I  was  pleased 
with  this  speech;  it  was  spoken  by  a  brave! 

I  inquired  about  my  old  friend,  the  trader, 

at  Peoria,  and  observed,  "that  I  expected  he 

would  have  been  here  before  me."     He  shook 

his  head,  and  said  he  "had  sent  express  after 

55 


Stife  of  2Macfc  l^atoft 


express  to  him,  and  had  off  ere  d  him  large  sums 
of  money,  to  come,  and  bring  all  the  Pottowat- 
omies  and  Kickapoos  with  him;  but  he  refused, 
saying,  your  British  father  had  not  money  enough 
to  induce  him  to  join  us!  1  have  now  [42]  laid 
a  trap  for  him,  I  have  sent  Gomo,  and  a  party 
of  Indians,  to  take  him  prisoner,  and  bring 
him  here  alive.16  I  expect  him  in  a  few  days." 
The  next  day,  arms  and  ammunition,  toma 
hawks,  knives,  and  clothing,  were  given  to 
my  band.  We  had  a  great  feast  in  the  even 
ing;  and  the  morning  following,  I  started  with 
about  five  hundred  braves,  to  join  the  British 
army.  The  British  war  chief  accompanied  us. 
We  passed  Chicago.  The  fort  had  been  evac 
uated  by  the  American  soldiers,  who  had 
marched  for  fort  Wayne.  They  were  attacked 
a  short  distance  from  that  fort,  and  defeated! 
They  had  a  considerable  quantity  of  powder 
in  the  fort  at  Chicago,  which  they  had  prom 
ised  to  the  Indians;  but  the  night  before 
they  marched,  they  destroyed  it.  I  think  it 
was  thrown  into  the  well!  If  they  had  ful 
filled  their  word  to  the  Indians,  I  think  they 
would  have  gone  safe.17 

16  Gomo  was  chief  of  a  band  Potowatomi  residing 
on  the  Illinois  River  above  Peoria.     Throughout  the 
war  he  adhered  to  the  American  cause,  and  was  on 
friendly  terms  with  Forsyth. 

17  An  interesting  opinion,  but  not  necessarily  con 
clusive  of  the  question.     On  the  whole  subject  of  the 
Fort  Dearborn  massacre  of  August  15,   1812,  see 
Quaife,  op.  ctt.,  especially  chap.  XII. 

56 


Jlife  of  2Macft 


On  our  arrival,  I  found  that  the  Indians 
had  several  prisoners,  I  advised  them  to  treat 
them  well.  We  continued  our  march,  and 
joined  the  British  army  below  Detroit;  and 
soon  after  had  a  fight !  The  Americans  fought 
well,  and  drove  us  with  considerable  loss!  I 
was  surprised  at  this,  as  I  had  been  told  that 
the  Americans  could  not  fight! 

Our  next  movement  was  against  a  fortified 
place.  I  was  stationed,  with  my  braves,  to 
prevent  any  person  going  to,  or  coming  from 
the  fort.  I  found  two  men  taking  care  of 
cattle,  and  took  them  prisoners.  I  would  not 
kill  them,  but  delivered  them  to  the  British  [43] 
war  chief.  Soon  after,  several  boats  came 
down  the  river,  full  of  American  soldiers. 
They  landed  on  the  opposite  side,  took  the 
British  batteries,  and  pursued  the  soldiers  that 
had  left  them.  They  went  too  far,  without 
knowing  the  forces  of  the  British,  and  were 
defeated!  I  hurried  across  the  river,  anxious 
for  an  opportunity  to  show  the  courage  of  my 
braves;  but  before  we  reached  the  ground,  all 
was  over!  The  British  had  taken  many  pris 
oners,  and  the  Indians  were  killing  them!  I 
immediately  put  a  stop  to  it,  as  I  never  thought 
it  brave,  but  cowardly,  to  kill  an  unarmed  and 
helpless  enemy! 

We  remained  here  some  time.  I  cannot 
detail  what  took  place,  as  I  was  stationed,  with 
my  braves,  in  the  woods.  It  appeared,  how 
ever,  that  the  British  could  not  take  this  fort  — 
57 


Hifc  of  2Wacft 


for  we  were  marched  to  another  some  distance 
off.  When  we  approached  it,  I  found  it  a 
small  stockade,  and  concluded  that  there  were 
not  many  men  in  it.  The  British  war  chief  sent 
a  flag — Colonel  Dixon  carried  it,  and  returned. 
He  said  a  young  war  chief  commanded,  and 
would  not  give  up  without  fighting!  Dixon 
came  to  me  and  said,  "you  will  see,  to-morrow, 
how  easily  we  will  take  that  fort."  I  was  of 
opinion  that  they  would  take  it;  but  when  the 
morning  came,  I  was  disappointed.  The  Brit 
ish  advanced — commenced  an  attack,  and 
fought  like  braves;  but  by  braves  in  the 
fort,  were  defeated,  and  a  great  number  killed! 
The  British  army  were  making  preparations  to 
retreat.  I  [44]  was  now  tired  of  being  with 
them  —  our  success  being  bad,  and  having  got 
no  plunder.  I  determined  on  leaving  them 
and  returning  to  Rock  river,  to  see  what  had 
become  of  my  wife  and  children,  as  I  had  not 
heard  from  them  since  I  started.  That  night, 
I  took  about  twenty  of  my  braves,  and  left  the 
British  camp  for  home.  We  met  no  person 
on  our  journey  until  we  reached  the  Illinois 
river.  Here  we  found  two  lodges  of  Pottawat- 
omies.  They  received  us  very  friendly,  and 
gave  us  something  to  eat;  and  inquired  about 
their  friends  that  were  with  the  British.  They 
said  there  had  been  some  fighting  on  the  Illinois, 
and  that  my  old  friend,  the  trader  at  Peoria, 
had  been  taken  prisoner!  "By  Gomo  and  his 
party?"  I  immediately  inquired.  They  said 
58 


te  of  25Iacft  f  atofe 


"no;  but  by  the  Americans,  who  came  up  with 
two  boats.  They  took  him  and  the  French 
settlers,  and  then  burnt  the  village  of  Peoria."18 
They  could  give  us  no  news  respecting  our 
people  on  Rock  river.  In  three  days  more,  we 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  our  village,  when  I  dis 
covered  a  smoke  ascending  from  a  hollow  in 
the  bluffs.  •  I  directed  my  party  to  proceed  to 
the  village,  as  I  wished  to  go  alone  to  the 
place  from  whence  the  smoke  proceeded,  to 
see  who  was  there.  I  approached  the  spot, 
and  when  I  came  in  view  of  the  fire,  saw  a  mat 
stretched,  and  an  old  man  sitting  under  it  in 
sorrow.  At  any  other  time,  I  would  have 
turned  away  without  disturbing  him — knowing 
that  he  had  come  there  to  be  alone  t  to  humble 
himself  before  [45]  the  Great  Spirit,  that  He 
might  take  pity  on  him!  I  approached  and 
seated  myself  beside  him.  He  gave  one  look 
at  me,  and  then  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  ground! 
//  was  my  old  friend !  I  anxiously  inquired 
for  his  son,  (my  adopted  child,)  and  what  had 
befallen  our  people  ?  My  old  comrade  seemed 
scarcely  alive — he  must  have  fasted  a  long  time . 
I  lighted  my  pipe,  and  put  it  in  his  mouth.  He 
eagerly  drew  a  few  puffs  —  cast  up  his  eyes, 
which  met  mine,  and  recognized  me.  His  eyes 
were  glassy!  He  would  again  have  fallen  off 
into  forgetfulness,  had  I  not  given  him  some 

18  The  old  French  village  at  Peoria  was  plundered 
and  burned  early  in  November,  1812,  by  a  force  of 
Illinois  militia  under  Captain  Thomas  E.  Craig. 

59 


3life  of  SWacft  J^atoft 


water,  which  revived  him.  I  again  inquired, 
"what  has  befallen  our  people,  and  what  has 
become  of  our  son?  " 

In  a  feeble  voice,  he  said:  "  Soon  after  your 
departure  to  join  the  British,  I  descended  the 
river  with  a  small  party,  to  winter  at  the  place 
I  told  you  the  white  man  had  requested  me  to 
come  to.  When  we  arrived,  I  found  a  fort 
built,  and  the  white  family  that  had  invited  me 
to  come  and  hunt  near  them,  had  removed  to 
it.  I  then  paid  a  visit  to  the  fort,  to  tell  the 
white  people  that  myself  and  little  band  were 
friendly,  and  that  we  wished  to  hunt  in  the 
vicinity  of  their  fort.  The  war  chief  who  com 
manded  it,  told  me,  that  we  might  hunt  on  the 
Illinois  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  no  person 
would  trouble  us.  That  the  horsemen  only 
ranged  on  the  Missouri  side,  and  he  had  directed 
them  not  to  cross  the  river.  I  was  pleased 
with  this  assurance  of  safety,  and  immediately 
crossed  over  and  made  my  winter's  camp. 
Game  was  plenty;  we  liv-[46]ed  happy,  and 
often  talked  of  you.  My  boy  regretted  your 
absence,  and  the  hardships  you  would  have 
to  undergo.  We  had  been  here  about  two 
moons,  when  my  boy  went  out,  as  usual,  to 
hunt.  Night  came  on,  and  he  did  not  return! 
I  was  alarmed  for  his  safety,  and  passed  a 
sleepless  night.  In  the  morning,  my  old  woman 
went  to  the  other  lodges  and  gave  the  alarm — 
and  all  turned  out  in  pursuit.  There  being 
snow  on  the  ground,  they  soon  came  upon  his 
60 


ffiifc  of  SMacfc  i^atoft 


track,  and  after  pursuing  it  some  distance , 
found  he  was  on  the  trail  of  a  deer,  that  led 
towards  the  river.  They  soon  came  to  the 
place  where  he  had  stood  and  fired,  and  found  a 
deer  hanging  upon  the  branch  of  a  tree,  which 
had  been  skinned.  But  here  were  found  the 
tracks  of  white  men  !  They  had  taken  my  boy 
prisoner.  Their  tracks  led  across  the  river, 
and  then  down  towards  the  fort.  My  friends 
followed  them,  and  soon  found  my  boy  lying 
dead!  He  had  been  most  cruelly  murdered! 
His  face  was  shot  to  pieces — his  body  stabbed 
in  several  places  —  and  his  head  scalped !  His 
arms  were  tied  behind  him!" 

The  old  man  paused  for  some  time,  and 
then  told  me  that  his  wife  had  died  on  her  way 
up  the  Mississippi!  I  took  the  hand  of  my 
old  friend  in  mine,  and  pledged  myself  to 
avenge  the  death  of  his  son!  It  was  now  dark 
—  a  terrible  storm  commenced  raging,  with 
heavy  torrents  of  rain,  thunder  and  lightning. 
I  had  taken  my  blanket  off  and  wrapped  it 
around  the  old  man.  When  the  storm  abated, 
I  kindled  a  fire,  [47]  and  took  hold  of  my  old 
friend  to  remove  him  near  to  it — but  he  was 
dead!  I  remained  with  him  the  balance  of  the 
night.  Some  of  my  party  came  early  in  the 
morning  to  look  for  me,  and  assisted  me  in 
burying  him  on  the  peak  of  the  bluff.  I  then 
returned  to  the  village  with  my  friends.  I  vis 
ited  the  grave  of  my  old  friend  the  last  time, 
as  I  ascended  Rock  river. 
61 


Eife  of  SMacft 


On  my  arrival  at  the  village,  I  was  met  by 
the  chiefs  and  braves,  and  conducted  to  a  lodge 
that  had  been  prepared  to  receive  me.  After 
eating,  I  gave  an  account  of  what  I  had  seen 
and  done.  I  explained  to  them  the  manner 
the  British  and  Americans  fought.  Instead  of 
stealing  upon  each  other,  and  taking  every 
advantage  to  kill  the  enemy  and  save  their  own 
people,  as  we  do,  (which,  with  us,  is  consid 
ered  good  policy  in  a  war  chief,)  they  marched 
out,  in  open  daylight,  and  fight,  regardless  of 
the  number  of  warriors  they  may  lose !  After 
the  battle  is  over,  they  retire  to  feast,  and  drink 
wine,  as  if  nothing  had  happened;  after  which, 
they  make  a  statement  in  writing,  of  what  they 
have  done — each  party  claiming  the  victory ! 
and  neither  giving  an  account  of  half  the  num 
ber  that  have  been  killed  on  their  own  side. 
They  all  fought  like  braves,  but  would  not  do 
to  lead  a  war  party  with  us.  Our  maxim  is, 
"to  kill  the  enemy  and  save  our  own  men." 
Those  chiefs  would  do  to  paddle  a  canoe,  but 
not  to  steer  it.  The  Americans  shoot  better 
than  the  British,  but  their  soldiers  are  not  so 
well  clothed,  or  provided  for. 

[48]  The  village  chief  informed  me  that  after 
I  started  with  my  braves  and  the  parties  who 
followed,  the  nation  was  reduced  to  so  small  a 
party  of  fighting  men,  that  they  would  have 
been  unable  to  defend  themselves,  if  the  Amer 
icans  had  attacked  them;  that  all  the  women 
and  children,  and  old  men,  belonging  to  the 
62 


Jtife  of  25lach  f  atoft 


warriors  who  had  joined  the  British,  were  left 
with  them  to  provide  for;  and  that  a  council 
was  held,  which  agreed  that  Quash-qua-me, 
the  Lance,  and  other  chiefs,  with  the  old  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  such  others  as  chose 
to  accompany  them,  should  descend  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  go  to  St.  Louis,  and  place  them 
selves  under  the  protection  of  the  American 
chief  stationed  there.  They  accordingly  went 
down  to  St.  Louis,  and  were  received  as  the 
friendly  band  of  our  nation  —  sent  up  the  Mis 
souri,  and  provided  for,  whilst  their  friends 
were  assisting  the  British ! 

Ke-o-kuck  was  then  introduced  to  me  as  the 
war-chief  of  the  braves  then  in  the  village.19 
I  inquired  how  he  had  become  a  chief.  They 
said  that  a  large  armed  force  was  seen  by  their 
spies,  going  towards  Peoria;  that  fears  were 
entertained  that  they  would  come  upon  and  at 
tack  our  village;  and  that  a  council  had  been 
convened  to  decide  upon  the  best  course  to  be 
adopted,  which  concluded  upon  leaving  the 
village  and  going  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  to  get  out  of  the  way.  Ke-o-kuck, 

19  Although  not  a  chief  by  birth,  Keokuk  rose  by 
the  exercise  of  political  talents  to  a  position  of 
leadership  in  his  tribe.  He  followed  the  policy  of 
favoring  the  Americans.  Black  Hawk  regarded  him, 
therefore,  with  especial  dislike,  a  feeling  which  was 
heightened,  no  doubt,  by  the  element  of  personal 
rivalry  between  the  two.  In  the  end  Keokuk  triumph 
ed  over  his  rival,  his  victory  being  consolidated  by 
the  fatal  result,  for  Black  Hawk,  of  his  war  of  1832. 

63 


Hife  of  2£>lach 


during  the  sitting  of  the  council,  had  been 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  lodge,  (not  being 
allowed  to  enter,  having  never  killed  an  en-[4Q] 
emy,)  where  he  remained  until  old  Wa-co-me 
came  out.  He  then  told  him  that  he  had  heard 
what  they  had  decided  upon,  and  was  anxious 
to  be  permitted  to  go  in  and  speak,  before  the 
council  adjourned!  Wa-co-me  returned,  and 
asked  leave  for  Ke-o-kuck  to  come  in  and  make 
a  speech.  His  request  was  granted.  Ke-o- 
kuck  entered,  and  addressed  the  chiefs.  He 
said,  "  I  have  heard  with  sorrow,  that  you  have 
determined  to  leave  our  village,  and  cross  the 
Mississippi,  merely  because  you  have  been  told 
that  the  Americans  were  seen  coming  in  this 
direction !  Would  you  leave  our  village,  desert 
our  homes,  and  fly,  before  an  enemy  approaches? 
Would  you  leave  all — even  the  graves  of  our 
fathers,  to  the  mercy  of  an  enemy,  without 
trying  to  defend  them?  Give  me  charge  of 
your  warriors;  I'll  defend  the  village,  and  you 
may  sleep  in  safety!" 

The  council  consented  that  Ke-o-kuck  should 
be  a  war-chief.  He  marshalled  his  braves  — 
sent  out  spies — and  advanced  with  a  party  him 
self,  on  the  trail  leading  to  Peoria.  They  return 
ed  without  seeing  an  enemy.  The  Americans 
did  not  come  by  our  village .  All  were  well  satis 
fied  with  the  appointment  of  Ke-o-kuck.  He 
used  every  precaution  that  our  people  should 
not  be  surprised.  This  is  the  manner  in  which, 
and  the  cause  of,  his  receiving  the  appointment. 
64 


Hife  of  2Marft  f  atoft 


I  was  satisfied,  and  then  started  to  visit  my 
wife  and  children.  I  found  them  well,  and  my 
boys  were  [50]  growing  finely.  It  is  not  cus 
tomary  for  us  to  say  much  about  our  women, 
as  they  generally  perform  their  part  cheerfully, 
and  never  interfere  with  business  belonging  to 
the  men!  This  is  the  only  wife  I  ever  had,  or 
ever  will  have.  She  is  a  good  woman,  and 
teaches  my  boys  to  be  brave!  Here  I  would 
have  rested  myself,  and  enjoyed  the  comforts 
of  my  lodge,  but  I  could  not:  I  had  promised 
to  avenge  the  death  of  my  adopted  son! 

I  immediately  collected  a  party  of  thirty 
braves,  and  explained  to  them  my  object  in 
making  this  war  party — it  being  to  avenge  the 
death  of  my  adopted  son,  who  had  been  cruelly 
and  wantonly  murdered  by  the  whites.  I  ex 
plained  to  them  the  pledge  I  had  made  his  father, 
and  told  them  that  they  were  the  last  words 
that  he  had  heard  spoken !  All  were  willing  to 
go  with  me,  to  fulfil  my  word.  We  started  in 
canoes,  and  descended  the  Mississippi,  until 
we  arrived  near  the  place  where  fort  Madison 
had  stood.  It  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
whites  and  burnt;  nothing  remained  but  the 
chimneys.  We  were  pleased  to  see  that  the 
white  people  had  retired  from  our  country. 
We  proceeded  down  the  river  again.  I  landed, 
with  one  brave,  near  Capo  Gray;20  the  remain- 

20 Cap  (Cape)  au  Gris,  a  rocky  promontory  on  the 
Illinois  bank  of  the  Mississippi  about  a  dozen  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Cuivre  River.  Opposite  it,  on 

65 


life  of  25Iaeft 


der  of  the  party  went  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Quiver.  I  hurried  across  to  the  trail  that  led 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Quiver  to  a  fort,  and 
soon  after  heard  firing  at  the  mouth  of  the 
creek.  Myself  and  brave  concealed  ourselves 
on  the  side  of  the  road.  We  had  not  re 
mained  [51]  here  long,  before  two  men  riding 
one  horse,  came  in  full  speed  from  the  direc 
tion  of  the  sound  of  the  firing.  When  they 
came  sufficiently  near,  we  fired;  the  horse 
jumped,  and  both  men  fell!  We  rushed  to 
wards  them — one  rose  and  ran.  I  followed 
him,  and  was  gaining  on  him,  when  he  ran  over 
a  pile  of  rails  that  had  lately  been  made,  seized 
a  stick,  and  struck  at  me.  I  now  had  an  oppor 
tunity  to  see  his  face — I  knew  him!  He 
had  been  at  Quash-qua-me's  village  to  learn 
his  people  how  to  plough.  We  looked  upon 
him  as  a  good  man.  I  did  not  wish  to  kill  him, 

the  Missouri  bank,  was  built  a  fort,  manned  by 
Missouri  rangers.  Not  many  miles  away,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Howard,  occurred  the  locally  famous 
Battle  of  the  Sink  Hole  in  May,  1815,  Black  Hawk's 
account  of  which  is  given  in  the  following  pages. 
An  interesting  account  of  this  battle,  written  by  a 
participant  on  the  other  side,  is  printed  in  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections,  II,  213-18.  The  author  char 
acterizes  Black  Hawk's  account  as  "quite  strange 
and  confused,"  and  supposes  him  to  have  described 
here  what  really  occurred  to  him  at  another  time. 
While  this  may  be  true  in  part,  it  is  evident  from  a 
comparison  of  the  narratives  that  Black  Hawk  was 
in  the  Sink  Hole  Battle  and  that  he  gives  an  account 
of  it  which  is  at  least  partially  correct. 
66 


Slife  of  SSiacfc  f  atoft 


and  pursued  him  no  further.  I  returned  and 
met  my  brave ;  he  said  he  had  killed  the  other 
man,  and  had  his  scalp  in  his  hand!  We  had 
not  proceeded  far,  before  we  met  the  man, 
supposed  to  be  killed,  coming  up  the  road, 
staggering  like  a  drunken  man,  all  covered  with 
blood!  This  was  the  most  terrible  sight  I  had 
ever  seen.  I  told  my  comrade  to  kill  him,  to 
put  him  out  of  his  misery!  I  could  not  look 
at  him.  I  passed  on,  and  heard  a  rustling  in 
the  bushes,  and  distinctly  saw  two  little  boys 
concealing  themselves!  I  thought  of  my  own 
children,  and  passed  on  without  noticing  them! 
My  comrade  here  joingd  me,  and  in  a  little 
while  we  met  the  balance  of  our  party.  I  told 
them  that  we  would  be  pursued,  and  directed 
them  to  follow  me.  We  crossed  the  creek, 
and  formed  ourselves  in  the  timber.  We  had 
not  been  here  long,  before  a  party  of  mounted 
men  rushed  at  full  speed  upon  us!  I  took 
deliberate  aim,  and  shot  the  man  [52]  leading 
the  party.  He  fell  from  his  horse  lifeless !  All 
my  people  fired,  but  without  effect.  The  en 
emy  rushed  upon  us  without  giving  us  time  to 
reload.  They  surrounded  us,  and  forced  us 
to  run  into  a  deep  sink-hole,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  there  were  some  bushes.  We  loaded 
our  guns,  and  awaited  the  approach  of  the 
enemy.  They  rushed  to  the  edge  of  the  hole 
and  fired,  killing  one  of  our  men.  We  returned 
the  fire  instantly,  and  killed  one  of  their  party! 
We  reloaded,  and  commenced  digging  holes  in 
67 


Ilife  of  SSIatft  l^atoft 


the  side  of  the  bank  to  protect  ourselves,  whilst 
a  party  watched  the  movements  of  the  enemy, 
expecting  that  their  whole  force  would  be  upon 
us  immediately.  Some  of  my  warriors  com 
menced  singing  their  death-songs!  I  heard  the 
whites  talking — and  called  to  them,  "to  come 
out  and  fight!"  I  did  not  like  my  situation, 
and  wished  the  matter  settled.  I  soon  heard 
chopping  and  knocking.  I  could  not  imagine 
what  they  were  doing.  Soon  after  they  run  up 
wheels  with  a  battery  on  it,  and  fired  down 
without  hurting  any  of  us.  I  called  to  them 
again,  and  told  them  if  they  were  "brave  men, 
to  come  down  and  fight*  us. ' '  They  gave  up  the 
siege,  and  returned  to  their  fort  about  dusk. 
There  were  eighteen  in  this  trap  with  me.  We 
all  got  out  safe,  and  found  one  white  man  dead 
on  the  edge  of  the  sink-hole.  They  did  not 
remove  him,  for  fear  of  our  fire.  We  scalped 
him,  and  placed  our  dead  man  upon  him!  We 
could  not  have  left  him  in  a  better  situation, 
than  on  an  enemy! 

[53]  We  had  now  effected  our  purpose,  and 
started  back  by  land  —  thinking  it  unsafe  to 
return  in  our  canoes.  I  found  my  wife  and 
children,  and  the  greater  part  of  our  people, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  loway  river.  I  now  deter 
mined  to  remain  with  my  family,  and  hunt  for 
them;  and  humble  myself  before  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  return  thanks  to  him  for  preserving 
me  through  the  war! 

I  made  my  hunting  camp  on  English  river, 
68 


£ife  of  SMacft 


(a  branch  of  the  loway.)  During  the  winter 
a  party  of  Pottawatomies  came  from  the  Illinois 
to  pay  me  a  visit  —  among  them  was  Wash-e- 
own,  an  old  man,  that  had  formerly  lived  in 
our  village.  He  informed  us,  that,  in  the  fall, 
the  Americans  had  built  a  fort  at  Peoria,  and 
had  prevented  them  from  going  down  to  the 
Sangomo  to  hunt.  He  said  they  were  very 
much  distressed — that  Gomo  had  returned 
from  the  British  army,  and  brought  news  of 
their  defeat  near  Maiden;  and  told  us  that  he 
went  to  the  American  chief  with  a  flag;  gave 
up  fighting,  and  told  the  chief  that  he  wished 
to  make  peace  for  his  nation.  The  American 
chief  gave  him  a  paper  for  the  war  chief  at  the 
fort  at  Peoria,  and  I  visited  that  fort  with  Gomo. 
It  was  then  agreed  that  there  should  be  no  more 
fighting  between  the  Americans  and  Pottawat 
omies;  and  that  two  of  their  chiefs,  and  eight 
braves,  with  five  Americans,  had  gone  down 
to  St.  Louis  to  have  the  peace  confirmed.  This, 
said  Wash-e-own,  is  good  news;  for  we  can 
now  go  to  our  hunting-grounds:  [54]  and,  for 
my  part,  I  never  had  anything  to  do  with  this 
war.  The  Americans  never  killed  any  of  our 
people  before  the  war,  nor  interfered  with  our 
hunting  grounds;  and  I  resolved  to  do  nothing 
against  them!  I  made  no  reply  to  these  re 
marks,  as  the  speaker  was  old,  and  talked  like 
a  child! 

We  gave  the  Pottawatomies  a  feast.     I  pre 
sented  Wash-e-own  with  a  good  horse;  my 
69 


Sife  of  22»lacft  i^atoft 


braves  gave  one  to  each  of  his  party,  and,  at 
parting,  they  said  they  wished  us  to  make  peace 

—  which  we  did  not  promise  —  but  told  them 
that  we  would  not  send  out  war  parties  against 
the  settlements. 

A  short  time  after  the  Pottawatomies  left,  a 
party  of  thirty  braves,  belonging  to  our  nation, 
from  the  peace  camp  on  the  Missouri,  paid  us  a 
visit.  They  exhibited  five  scalps,  which  they 
had  taken  on  the  Missouri,  and  wished  us  to 
dance  over  them,  which  we  willingly  joined  in. 
They  related  the  manner  in  which  they  had 
taken  these  scalps.  Myself  and  braves  then 
showed  the  two  we  had  taken,  near  the  Quiver, 
and  told  them  the  reason  that  induced  that  war 
party  to  go  out;  as  well  as  the  manner,  and 
difficulty  we  had  in  obtaining  these  scalps. 

They  recounted  to  us  all  that  had  taken  place 

—  the  number  that  had  been  killed  by  the  peace 
party,  as  they  were  called  and  recognized  — 
which  far  surpassed  what  our  warriors,  who 
had  joined  the  British,  had  done!     This  party 
came  for  the  pur- [5 5] pose  of  joining  the  Brit 
ish!     I  advised  them  to  return  to  the  peace 
party,  and  told  them  the  news  that  the  Potta 
watomies  had  brought.     They  returned  to  the 
Missouri,  accompanied  by  some  of  my  braves, 
whose  families  were  with  the  peace  party. 

After  sugar-making  was  over,  in  the  spring, 

I  visited  the  Fox  village,  at  the  lead  mines. 

They  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  war,   and 

were  not  in  mourning.     I  remained  there  some 

70 


Eife  of  25lacft  l^atoft 


days,  and  spent  my  time  pleasantly  with  them, 
in  dancing  and  feasting.  I  then  paid  a  visit 
to  the  Pottawatomie  village,  on  the  Illinois 
river,  and  learned  that  Sa-na-tu-wa  and  Ta- 
ta-puc-key  had  been  to  St.  Louis.  Gomo  told 
me  "that  peace  had  been  made  between  his 
people  and  the  Americans,  and  that  seven  of 
his  party  remained  with  the  war  chief  to  make 
the  peace  stronger!"  He  then  told  me  that 
"  Wash-e-own  was  dead!  That  he  had  been 
to  the  fort,  to  carry  some  wild  fowl,  to  ex 
change  for  tobacco,  pipes,  etc.  That  he 
had  got  some  tobacco  and  a  little  flour,  and 
left  the  fort  before  sun-down;  but  had  not 
proceeded  far  before  he  was  shot  dead,  by  a 
war  chief  who  had  concealed  himself  near  the 
path,  for  that  purpose!  —  and  then  dragged 
him  to  the  lake  and  threw  him  in,  where  I 
afterwards  found  him.  I  have  since  given 
two  horses  and  my  rifle  to  his  relations,  not  to 
break  the  peace  —  which  they  had  agreed  to." 

I  remained  some  time  at  the  village  with 
Gomo,  and  [56]  went  with  him  to  the  fort  to 
pay  a  visit  to  the  war  chief.  I  spoke  the  Pot 
tawatomie  tongue  well,  and  was  taken  for  one 
of  their  people  by  the  chief.  He  treated  us 
very  friendly,  and  said  he  was  very  much  dis 
pleased  about  the  murder  of  Wash-e-own, 
and  would  find  out,  and  punish  the  person  that 
killed  him.  He  made  some  inquiries  about 
the  Sacs,  which  I  answered. 

On  my  return  to  Rock  river,  I  was  informed 


itife  of  25Iath  l^atofe 


that  a  party  of  soldiers  had  gone  up  the  Mis 
sissippi  to  build  a  fort  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 
They  had  stopped  near  our  village,  and  ap 
peared  to  be  friendly,  and  were  kindly  treated 
by  our  people. 

We  commenced  repairing  our  lodges,  putting 
our  village  in  order,  and  clearing  our  corn 
fields.  We  divided  the  fields  of  the  party  on 
the  Missouri,  among  those  that  wanted,  on 
condition  that  they  should  be  relinquished  to 
the  owners,  when  they  returned  from  iht  peace 
establishment.  We  were  again  happy  in  our 
village:  our  women  went  cheerfully  10  work, 
and  all  moved  on  harmoniously. 

Some  time  afterwards,  five  or  six  boats 
arrived,  loaded  with  soldiers,  going  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  to  reinforce  the  garrison.  They 
appeared  friendly,  and  were  well  received. 
We  held  a  council  with  the  war  chief.  We 
had  no  intention  of  hurting  him,  or  any  of  his 
party,  or  we  could  easily  have  defeated  them. 
They  remained  with  us  all  day,  and  used,  and 
gave  us,  plenty  of  whiskey!  During  the  night 
a  party  [57]  arrived,  (who  came  down  Rock 
river,)  and  brought  us  six  kegs  of  powder! 
They  told  us  that  the  British  had  gone  to  Prai 
rie  du  Chien,  and  taken  the  fort,  and  wished  us 
to  join  them  again  in  the  war,  which  we  agreed 
to.  I  collected  my  warriors,  and  determined 
to  pursue  the  boats,  which  had  sailed  with  a 
fair  wind.  If  we  had  known  the  day  before, 
we  could  easily  have  taken  them  all,  as  the 
72 


Hife  of  25Iatft 


war  chief  used  no  precautions  to  prevent  it. 
I  immediately  started  with  my  party,  by  land, 
in  pursuit  —  thinking  that  some  of  their  boats 
might  get  aground,  or  that  the  Great  Spirit 
would  put  them  in  our  power,  if  he  wished 
them  taken,  and  their  people  killed!  About 
half  way  up  the  rapids,  I  had  a  full  view  of  the 
boats,  all  sailing  with  a  strong  wind.  I  soon 
discovered  that  one  boat  was  badly  managed, 
and  was  suffered  to  be  driven  ashore  by  the 
wind.  They  landed,  by  running  hard  aground, 
and  lowered  their  sail.  The  others  passed  on. 
This  boat  the  Great  Spirit  gave  us!  We  ap 
proached  it  cautiously,  and  fired  upon  the  men 
on  shore.  All  that  could,  hurried  aboard,  but 
they  were  unable  to  push  off,  being  fast 
aground.  We  advanced  to  the  river's  bank, 
under  cover,  and  commenced  firing  at  the 
boat.  Our  balls  passed  through  the  plank, 
and  did  execution,  as  I  could  hear  them  scream 
ing  in  the  boat!  I  encouraged  my  braves  to 
continue  firing.  Several  guns  were  fired  from 
the  boat,  without  effect.  I  prepared  my  bow 
and  arrows  to  throw  fire  to  the  sail,  which  was 
lying  on  the  boat;  and,  after  two  or  three  at 
tempts,  succeeded  in  setting  the  sail  on  fire. 

[58]  The  boat  was  soon  in  flames!  About 
this  time,  one  of  the  boats  that  had  passed, 
returned,  dropped  anchor,  and  swung  in  close 
to  the  boat  on  fire,  and  took  off  all  the  people, 
except  those  killed  and  badly  wounded.  We 
could  distinctly  see  them  passing  from  one 
73 


itife  of  2Macft 


boat  to  the  other,  and  fired  on  them  with  good 
aim.  We  wounded  the  war  chief  in  this  way! 
Another  boat  now  came  down,  dropped  her 
anchor,  which  did  not  take  hold,  and  was 
drifted  ashore !  The  other  boat  cut  her  cable 
and  rowed  down  the  river,  leaving  their  com 
rades  without  attempting  to  assist  them.  We 
then  commenced  an  attack  upon  this  boat,  and 
fired  several  rounds.  They  did  not  return  the 
fire.  We  thought  they  were  afraid,  or  had 
but  a  small  number  on  board.  I  therefore 
ordered  a  rush  to  the  boat.  When  we  got 
near,  they  fired,  and  killed  two  of  our  people, 
being  all  that  we  lost  in  the  engagement. 
Some  of  their  men  jumped  out  and  pushed  off 
the  boat,  and  thus  got  away  without  losing  a 
man!  I  had  a  good  opinion  of  this  war  chief 
—  he  managed  so  much  better  than  the  other. 
It  would  give  me  pleasure  to  shake  him  by  the 
hand.21 

We  now  put  out  the  fire  on  the  captured 
boat,  to  save  the  cargo;  when  a  skiff  was  dis 
covered  coming  down  the  river.  Some  of  our 
people  cried  out,  "here  comes  an  express 
from  Prairie  du  Chien!"  We  hoisted  the 
British  flag,  but  they  would  not  land.  They 
turned  their  little  boat  around,  and  rowed  up 
the  river.  We  directed  a  few  shots  at  them, 

21  For  the  contemporary  American  account  of  this 
battle,  as  printed  in  the  Missouri  Gazette,  July  30, 
1814,  see  Frank  E.  Stevens,  The  Black  Hawk  War 
(Chicago,  1903),  48-50. 

74 


I!  iff  of 


in  order  to  bring  them  /<?y  but  they  were  so 
far  off  that  we  could  [59]  not  hurt  them.  I 
found  several  barrels  of  whiskey  on  the  cap 
tured  boat,  and  knocked  in  their  heads  and 
emptied  out  the  bad  medicine!  I  next  found 
a  box  full  of  small  bottles  and  packages,  which 
appeared  to  be  bad  medicine  also;  such  as  the 
medicine-men  kill  the  white  people  with  when 
they  get  sick.  This  I  threw  into  the  river ; 
and  continuing  my  search  for  plunder,  found 
several  guns,  large  barrels  full  of  clothing, 
and  some  cloth  lodges,  all  of  which  I  distrib 
uted  among  my  warriors.  We  now  disposed 
of  the  dead,  and  returned  to  the  Fox  village, 
opposite  the  lower  end  of  Rock  Island;  where 
we  put  up  our  new  lodges  and  hoisted  the  British 
flag.  A  great  many  of  our  braves  were  dressed 
in  the  uniform  clothing  which  we  had  taken, 
which  gave  our  encampment  the  appearance  of 
a  regular  camp  of  soldiers!  We  placed  out 
sentinels,  and  commenced  dancing  over  the 
scalps  we  had  taken.  Soon  after,  several  boats 
passed  down;  among  them,  a  large  boat  carry 
ing  big  guns!  Our  young  men  followed  them 
some  distance,  firing  at  them,  but  could  not 
do  much  damage,  more  than  to  frighten  them. 
We  were  now  certain  that  the  fort  at  Prairie 
du  Chien  had  been  taken,  as  this  large  boat 
went  up  with  the  first  party,  who  built  the  fort. 
In  the  course  of  the  day  some  of  the  British 
came  down  in  a  small  boat;  they  had  followed 
the  large  one,  thinking  she  would  get  fast  in 
75 


Hife  of  SMacft  i^atoft 


the  rapids,  in  which  case  they  were  certain  of 
taking  her.  They  had  summoned  her  on  the 
way  down  to  surrender,  but  [60]  she  refused; 
and  now,  that  she  had  passed  over  the  rapids 
in  safety,  all  hope  of  taking  her  had  vanished. 

The  British  landed  a  big  gun,  and  gave  us 
three  soldiers  to  manage  it.  They  compli 
mented  us  for  our  bravery  in  taking  the  boat, 
and  told  us  what  they  had  done  at  Prairie  du 
Chien;22  gave  us  a  keg  of  rum,  and  joined  with 
us  in  our  dancing  and  feasting!  We  gave 
them  some  things  which  we  had  taken  from 
the  boat  —  particularly  books  and  papers. 
They  started  the  next  morning,  after  promis 
ing  to  return  in  a  few  days  with  a  large  body 
of  soldiers. 

We  went  to  work,  under  the  directions  of 
the  men  left  with  us,  and  dug  up  the  ground  in 
two  places,  to  put  the  big  gun  in,  that  the  men 
might  remain  in  with  it,  and  be  safe.  We 
then  sent  spies  down  the  river  to  reconnoitre, 
who  sent  word  by  a  runner,  that  several  boats 
were  coming  up,  filled  with  men.  I  marshalled 

22  For  a  sketch  of  the  British-American  military 
operations  centering  at  Prairie  du  Chien  during  the 
War  of  1812,  see  Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  Wisconsin, 
The  Americanization  of  a  French  Common-wealth  ( Bos 
ton,  1908),  172-78;  also  the  article  entitled  "Credit 
Island,  1814-1914,"  in  Journal  of  the  Illinois  State 
Historical  Society,  for  January,  1915.  A  large  amount 
of  documentary  material  pertaining  to  the  subject 
has  been  printed  in  the  volumes  of  the  Wisconsin 
Historical  Collections. 

76 


3tife  of  25lacfe  J^atofe 


my  forces,  and  was  soon  ready  for  their  arrival, 
and  resolved  to  fight  —  as  we  had  not  yet  had 
a  fair  fight  with  the  Americans  during  the  war. 
The  boats  arrived  in  the  evening,  and  stopped 
at  a  small  willow  island,  nearly  opposite  to  us. 
During  the  night  we  removed  our  big  gun 
further  down,  and  at  daylight  next  morning, 
commenced  firing.  We  were  pleased  to  see 
that  almost  every  fire  took  effect,  striking  the 
boats  nearly  every  shot.  They  pushed  off  as 
quick  as  possible;  and  I  expected  would  land 
and  give  a  fight.  I  was  prepared  to  meet  them 
—  but  was  soon  sadly  disap-\b\\pointed\ — the 
boats  having  all  started  down  the  river.  A  party 
of  braves  followed  to  watch  where  they  landed; 
but  they  did  not  stop  until  they  got  below 
the  Des  Moines  rapids,  when  they  landed,  and 
commenced  building  a  fort. 
(j  collected  a  few  braves,  and  started  to  the 
place  where  it  was  reported  they  were  making 
a  fort.23  I  did  not  want  a  fort  in  our  country, 
as  we  wished  to  go  down  in  the  fall,  to  the 
Two-River  country,  to  hunt  —  it  being  our  best 
hunting  ground;  and  we  concluded,  that  if  this 
fort  was  established,  we  should  be  prevented 
from  going  to  our  hunting  ground.  I  arrived 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort  in  the  evening,  and 

23  Fort  Johnson,  near  modern  Warsaw,  Hancock 
County,  111.,  built  by  Major  Zachary  Taylor  after  his 
repulse  at  Black  Hawk's  hands  near  Rock  Island. 
In  October  of  the  same  year  the  fort  was  abandoned 
and  burned. 

77 


of  23laclt 


stopped  for  the  night,  on  the  peak  of  a  high  bluff. 
We  made  no  fire,  for  fear  of  being  observed. 
Our  young  men  kept  watch  by  turns,  whilst  the 
others  slept.  I  was  very  tired,  and  soon  went 
to  sleep.  The  Great  Spirit,  during  my  slum 
ber,  told  me  to  go  down  the  bluff  to  a  creek 

—  that  I  would  there  find  a  hollow  tree  cut 
down;  to  look  into  the  top  of  it,  and  I  would 
see  a  large  snake — to  observe  the  direction  he 
was  looking,  and  I  would  see  the  enemy  close 
by,  and  unarmed.     In  the  morning,  I  commu 
nicated  to  my  braves  what  the  Great  Spirit  had 
told  me;  and  took  one  of  them  and  went  down 
a  hollow  that  led  to  the  creek,  and  soon  came  in 
sight  of  the  place,  on  an  opposite  hill,  where 
they  were  building  the  fort.     I  saw  a  great 
many  men.     We  crawled  cautiously  on  our 
hands  and  knees,  until  we  got  into  the  bottom 

—  then,   through  the   [62]  grass   and  weeds, 
until  we  reached  the  bank  of  the  creek.     Here 
I  found  a  tree  that  had  been  cut  down.     I 
looked  in  the  top  of  it,  and  saw  a  large  snake, 
with  his  head  raised,  looking  across  the  creek.    I 
raised  myself  cautiously,  and  discovered,  nearly 
opposite  to  me,  two  war  chiefs  walking  arm-in 
arm,  without  guns.     They  turned,  and  walked 
back  towards  the  place  where  the  men  were 
working  at  the  fort.     In  a  little  while  they 
returned,   walking   immediately   towards   the 
spot  where  we  lay  concealed  —  but  did  not 
come  as  near  as  before.     If  they  had,  they 
would  have  been  killed — for  each  of  us  had  a 

78 


Sife  of  2Macft  f  atoft 


good  rifle.  We  crossed  the  creek,  and  crawled 
to  a  bunch  of  bushes.  I  again  raised  myself  a 
little,  to  see  if  they  were  coming;  but  they 
went  into  the  fort.  By  this  they  saved  their 
lives. 

We  recrossed  the  creek;  and  I  returned 
alone — going  up  the  hollow  we  came  down. 
My  brave  went  down  the  creek;  and,  on  rising 
a  hill  to  the  left  of  the  one  we  came  down,  I 
could  plainly  see  the  men  at  work;  and  discov 
ered,  in  the  bottom,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
creek,  a  sentinel  walking.  I  watched  him 
attentively,  to  see  if  he  perceived  my  com 
panion,  who  had  gone  towards  him.  The 
sentinel  walked  first  one  way  and  then  back 
again.  I  observed  my  brave  creeping  towards 
him.  The  sentinel  stopped  for  some  time,  and 
looked  in  the  direction  where  my  brave  was 
concealed.  He  laid  still,  and  did  not  move  the 
grass;  and,  as  the  sentinel  turned  to  walk,  my 
[63]  brave  fired  and  he  fell!  I  looked  towards 
the  fort,  and  saw  that  they  were  all  in  confusion 
—  running  in  every  direction — some  down  a 
steep  bank  to  a  boat.  My  comrade  joined  me, 
and  we  returned  to  the  rest  of  our  party,  and  all 
hurried  back  to  Rock  river,  where  we  arrived 
in  safety  at  our  village.  I  hung  up  my  med 
icine  bag,  put  away  my  rifle  and  spear,  and  felt 
as  if  I  should  not  want  them  again,  as  I  had 
no  wish  to  raise  any  more  war  parties  against 
the  whites,  without  they  gave  new  provocation. 
Nothing  particular  happened  from  this  time 
79 


Hife  of  25Iatft  I^atoft 


until  spring,  except  news  that  the  fort  below 
the  rapids  had  been  abandoned  and  burnt  by 
the  Americans. 

Soon  after  I  returned  from  my  wintering 
ground,  we  received  information  that  peace  had 
been  made  between  the  British  and  Americans, 
and  that  we  were  required  to  make  peace  also 
—  and  were  invited  to  go  down  to  Portage  des 
Sioux,  for  that  purpose.24  Some  advised  that 
we  should  go  down — others  that  we  should 
not.  No-mite,  our  principal  civil  chief,  said 
he  would  go,  as  soon  as  the  Foxes  came  down 
from  the  Mines.  They  came,  and  we  all 
started  from  Rock  river.  We  had  not  gone 
far,  before  our  chief  was  taken  sick.  We 
stopped  with  him  at  the  village  on  Henderson 
river.  The  Foxes  went  on,  and  we  were  to 
follow  as  soon  as  our  chief  got  better;  but  he 
continued  to  get  worse,  and  died.  His  brother 
now  became  the  principal  chief.  He  refused 

24  On  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
there  remained  the  task  of  restoring  peaceful  rela 
tions  between  the  United  States  and  the  numerous 
hostile  tribes  along  the  northern  and  western  frontier. 
For  this  purpose  two  sets  of  commissioners  were 
sent,  one  to  Spring  Wells  near  Detroit,  the  other  to 
Portage  des  Sioux  above  St.  Louis.  The  members 
of  the  latter  were  Governor  Clark  of  Missouri,  Gov 
ernor  Edwards  of  Illinois,  and  Auguste  Chouteau  of 
St.  Louis.  About  a  score  of  treaties  were  negoti 
ated  with  as  many  tribes  during  the  summer  of  1815. 
Certain  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  still  maintained  a 
belligerent  attitude,  however,  and  were  not  brought 
to  sign  a  treaty  until  the  following  year. 
80 


Eife  of  25Iatft 


to  go  down — saying,  that  if  he  started,  he 
would  be  taken  sick  and  [64]  die,  as  his  brother 
had  done — which  was  reasonable!  We  all 
concluded,  that  none  of  us  would  go  at  this 
time. 

The  Foxes  returned.  They  said  they  "had 
smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  with  the  Americans, 
and  expected  that  a  war  party  would  be  sent 
against  us,  because  we  did  not  go  down.  This 
I  did  not  believe;  as  the  Americans  had  always 
lost  by  their  war  parties  that  came  against  us. 

La  Gutrie,  and  other  British  traders,  arrived 
at  our  village  on  Rock  river,  in  the  fall.  La 
Gutrie  told  us,  that  we  must  go  down  and 
make  peace  —  that  it  was  the  wish  of  our  Eng 
lish  father.  He  said  he  wished  us  to  go  down 
to  the  Two-River  country25  to  winter — where 
game  was  plenty,  as  there  had  been  no  hunting 
there  for  several  years. 

Having  heard  that  a  principal  war  chief, 
with  troops,  had  come  up,  and  commenced 
building  a'  fort  near  Rapids  des  Moines,  we 
consented  to  go  down  with  the  traders,  to  see 
the  American  chief,  and  tell  him  the  reason 
why  we  had  not  been  down  sooner.  We 
arrived  at  the  head  of  the  rapids.  Here  the 
traders  left  their  goods  and  boats,  except  one, 
in  which  they  accompanied  us  to  the  Amer 
icans.  We  visited  the  war  chief,  (he  was  on 
board  of  a  boat,)  and  told  him  what  we 

25  Probably  this  was  the  territory  drained  by  the 
Fabius  River. 

81 


Sife  of  25Iacft 


had  to  say — explaining  the  reason  we  had 
not  been  down  sooner.  He  appeared  angry, 
and  talked  to  La  Gutrie  for  some  time.  I  in 
quired  of  him,  what  the  war  chief  said  ?  He 
told  me  that  he  was  threatening  to  [65]  hang 
him  up  on  the  yard-arm  of  his  boat.  "But," 
said  he,  "I  am  not  afraid  of  what  he  says. 
He  dare  not  put  his  threats  into  execution. 
I  have  done  no  more  than  I  had  a  right  to  do, 
as  a  British  subject." 

I  then  addressed  the  chief,  asking  permis 
sion  for  ourselves  and  some  Menomonees,  to 
go  down  to  the  Two-River  country  to  hunt. 
He  said,  we  might  go  down,  but  must  return 
before  the  ice  made,  as  he  did  not  intend  that 
we  should  winter  below  the  fort.  "But," 
said  he,  "  what  do  you  want  the  Menomonees  to 
go  with  you  for?"  I  did  not  know,  at  first, 
what  reply  to  make  —  but  told  him  that  they 
had  a  great  many  pretty  squaws  with  them, 
and  we  wished  them  to  go  with  us  on  that 
account !  He  consented.  We  all  started  down 
the  river,  and  remained  all  winter,  as  we  had 
no  intention  of  returning  before  spring,  when 
we  asked  leave  to  go.  We  made  a  good  hunt. 
Having  loaded  our  traders'  boats  with  furs  and 
peltries,  they  started  to  Mackinac,  and  we 
returned  to  our  village. 

There  is  one  circumstance  which  I  omitted 
to  mention  in  its  proper  place.  It  does  not 
relate  to  myself  or  people,  but  to  my  friend 
Gomo,  the  Pottowatomie  chief.  He  came  to 

S2 


atife  of  S&Iacft  f  atofe 


Rock  river  to   pay  me  a  visit.     During  his 
stay,  he  related  to  me  the  following  story: 

"The  war  chief  at  Peoria  is  a  very  good 
man;  he  always  speaks  the  truth,  and  treats 
our  people  well.  He  sent  for  me  one  day, 
and  told  me  that  he  was  nearly  out  of  provi 
sion,  and  wished  me  to  send  my  young  men 
out  to  hunt,  to  supply  his  fort.  I  promised  to 
do  [66]  so;  and  immediately  returned  to  my 
camp,  and  told  my  young  men  the  wishes  and 
wants  of  the  war  chief.  They  readily,  agreed 
to  go  and  hunt  for  our  friend;  and  soon  re 
turned  with  about  twenty  deer.  They  carried 
them  to  the  fort,  laid  them  down  at  the  gate, 
and  returned  to  our  camp.  A  few  days  after 
wards,  I  went  again  to  the  fort  to  see  if  they 
wanted  more  meat.  The  chief  gave  me  some 
powder  and  lead,  and  said  he  wished  me  to 
send  my  hunters  out  again.  When  I  returned 
to  my  camp,  and  told  my  young  men  that  the 
chief  wanted  more  meat,  Ma-ta-tah,  one  of  my 
principal  braves,  said  he  would  take  a  party 
and  go  across  the  Illinois,  about  one  day's 
travel,  where  game  was  plenty,  and  make  a 
good  hunt  for  our  friend,  the  war  chief.  He 
took  eight  hunters  with  him;  his  wife  and  sev 
eral  other  squaws  accompanied  them.  They 
had  travelled  about  half  the  day  in  the  prairie, 
when  they  discovered  a  party  of  white  men 
coming  towards  them  with  a  drove  of  cattle. 
Our  hunters  apprehended  no  danger,  or  they 
would  have  kept  out  of  the  way  of  the  whites, 
83 


Slife  of  2Macft  fatoft 


(who  had  not  yet  perceived  them.)  Ma-ta-tah 
changed  his  course,  as  he  wished  to  meet  and 
speak  to  the  whites.  As  soon  as  the  whites 
saw  our  party,  some  of  them  put  off  at  full 
speed,  and  came  up  to  our  hunters.  Ma-ta- 
tah  gave  up  his  gun  to  them,  and  endeavored 
to  explain  to  them  that  he  was  friendly,  and 
was  hunting  for  the  war  chief.  They  were 
not  satisfied  with  this,  but  fired  at  and  wounded 
him.  He  got  into  the  branch  of  a  tree  that 
had  been  blown  down,  to  [67]  keep  the  horses 
from  running  over  him.  He  was  again  fired 
on  by  several  guns  and  badly  wounded.  He 
found  that  he  would  be  murdered,  (if  not 
mortally  wounded  already,)  and  sprung  at 
the  nearest  man  to  him,  seized  his  gun,  and 
shot  him  from  his  horse.  He  then  fell,  cov- 
vered  with  blood  from  his  wounds,  and  almost 
instantly  expired! 

"The  other  hunters,  being  in  the  rear  of 
Ma-ta-tah,  seeing  that  the  whites  had  killed 
him,  endeavored  to  make  their  escape.  They 
were  pursued,  and  nearly  all  the  party  mur 
dered!  My  youngest  brother  brought  me  the 
news  in  the  night,  he  having  been  with  the 
hunters,  and  got  but  slightly  wounded.  He 
said  the  whites  had  abandoned  their  cattle,  and 
gone  back  towards  the  settlement.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  night  was  spent  in  lamenting 
for  the  death  of  our  friends.  At  daylight,  I 
blacked  my  face,  and  started  to  the  fort  to  see 
the  war  chief.  I  met  him  at  the  gate,  and 
84 


£ife  of  SWacft 


told  him  what  had  happened.  His  counte 
nance  changed;  I  could  see  sorrow  depicted  in 
it  for  the  death  of  my  people.  He  tried  to 
persuade  me  that  I  was  mistaken,  as  he  'could 
not  believe  that  the  whites  would  act  so  cruelly.' 
But  when  I  convinced  him,  he  told  me  that 
those  'cowards  who  had  murdered  my  people 
should  be  punished.'  I  told  him  that  my 
people  would  have  revenge — that  they  would 
not  trouble  any  of  his  people  of  the  fort,  as 
we  did  not  blame  him  or  any  of  his  soldiers  — 
but  that  a  party  of  my  braves  would  go  towards 
the  Wabash  to  avenge  the  death  of  their  friends 
and  [68]  relations.  The  next  day  I  took  a 
party  of  hunters  and  killed  several  deer,  and 
left  them  at  the  fort  gate  as  I  passed." 

Here  Gomo  ended  his  story.  I  could  relate 
many  similar  ones  that  have  come  within  my 
own  knowledge  and  observation;  but  I  dislike 
to  look  back  and  bring  on  sorrow  afresh.  I 
will  resume  my  narrative. 

The  great  chief  at  St.  Louis  having  sent 
word  for  us  to  go  down  and  confirm  the  treaty 
of  peace,  we  did  not  hesitate,  but  started  im 
mediately,  that  we  might  smoke  the  peace-pipe 
with  him.  On  our  arrival,  we  met  the  great 
chiefs  in  council.  They  explained  to  us  the 
words  of  our  Great  Father  at  Washington, 
accusing  us  of  heinous  crimes  and  divers  misde 
meanors,  particularly  in  not  coming  down  when 
first  invited.  We  knew  very  well  that  our 
Great  Father  had  deceived  us,  and  thereby 

85 


Itife  of  25Iatft  l^atoft 


forced  us  to  join  the  British,  and  could  not 
believe  that  he  had  put  this  speech  into  the 
mouths  of  these  chiefs  to  deliver  to  us.  I  was 
not  a  civil  chief,  and  consequently  made  no 
reply:  but  our  chiefs  told  the  commissioners 
that  "what  they  had  said  was  a  lie! — that  our 
Great  Father  had  sent  no  such  speech,  he 
knowing  the  situation  in  which  we  had  been 
placed  had  been  caused  by  him!  The  white 
chiefs  appeared  very  angry  at  this  reply,  and 
said  they  "would  break  off  the  treaty  with  us, 
and  go  to  war,  as  they  would  not  be  insulted." 

Our  chiefs  had  no  intention  of  insulting  them, 
and  told  them — "that  they  merely  wished  to 
explain  [69]  to  them  that  they  had  told  a  lie, 
without  making  them  angry;  in  the  same  man 
ner  that  the  whites  do,  when  they  do  not 
believe  what  is  told  them!"  The  council  then 
proceeded,  and  the  pipe  of  peace  was  smoked. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  touched  the  goose 
quill  to  the  treaty — not  knowing,  however,  that, 
by  that  act,  I  consented  to  give  away  my  village. 
Had  that  been  explained  to  me,  I  should  have 
opposed  it,  and  never  would  have  signed  their 
treaty,  as  my  recent  conduct  will  clearly  prove. 

What  do  we  know  of  the  manner  of  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  white  people?  They  might 
buy  our  bodies  for  dissection,  and  we  would 
touch  the  goose  quill  to  confirm  it,  without 
knowing  what  we  are  doing.  This  was  the 
case  with  myself  and  people  in  touching  the 
goose  quill  the  first  time. 
86 


Sife  of  SMacft 


We  can  only  judge  of  what  is  proper  and 
right  by  our  standard  of  right  and  wrong, 
which  differs  widely  from  the  whites,  if  I  have 
been  correctly  informed.  The  whites  may  do 
bad  all  their  lives,  and  then,  if  they  are  sorry 
for  it  when  about  to  die,  all  is  well!  But  with 
us  it  is  different:  we  must  continue  through 
out  our  lives  to  do  what  we  conceive  to  be 
good.  If  we  have  corn  and  meat,  and  know 
of  a  family  that  hajve  none,  we  divide  with 
them.  If  we  have  more  blankets  than  suffi 
cient,  and  others  have  not  enough,  we  must 
give  to  them  that  want.  But  I  will  presently 
explain  our  customs  and  the  manner  we  live. 

[70]  We  were  friendly  treated  by  the  white 
chiefs,  and  started  back  to  our  village  on  Rock 
river.  Here  we  found  that  troops  had  arrived 
to  build  a  fort  at  Rock  Island.26  This,  in  our 
opinion,  was  a  contradiction  to  what  we  had 
done — "to  prepare  for  war  in  time  of  peace." 
We  did  not,  however,  object  to  their  building 
the  fort  on  the  island,  but  we  were  very  sorry, 
as  this  was  the  best  island  on  the  Mississippi, 
and  had  long  been  the  resort  of  our  young 
people  during  the  summer.  It  was  our  garden 
(like  the  white  people  have  near  to  their  big  vil 
lages)  which  supplied  us  with  strawberries, 
blackberries,  gooseberries,  plums,  apples,  and 
nuts  of  different  kinds;  and  its  waters  supplied 
us  with  fine  fish,  being  situated  in  the  rapids  of 

26  Fort  Armstrong,  on  Rock  Island,  was  built  and 
garrisoned  in  the  summer  of  1816. 

87 


ilife  of  2Macft 


the  river.  In  my  early  life,  I  spent  many  happy 
days  on  this  island.  A  good  spirit  had  care 
of  it,  who  lived  in  a  cave  in  the  rocks  immedi 
ately  under  the  place  where  the  fort  now  stands, 
and  has  often  been  seen  by  our  people.  He 
was  white,  with  large  wings  like  a  swan's,  but 
ten  times  larger.  We  were  particular  not  to 
make  much  noise  in  that  part  of  the  island 
which  he  inhabited,  for  fear  of  disturbing  him. 
But  the  noise  of  the  fort  has  since  driven  him 
away,  and  no  doubt  a  bad  spirit  has  taken  his 
place! 

Our  village  was  situated  on  the  north  side 
of  Rock  river,  at  the  foot  of  its  rapids,  and  on 
the  point  of  land  between  Rock  river  and  the 
Mississippi.  In  its  front,  a  prairie  extended 
to  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi;  and  in  our  rear, 
a  continued  bluff,  gently  ascending  from  [71] 
the  prairie.  On  the  side  of  this  bluff  we  had 
our  corn-fields,  extending  about  two  miles  up, 
running  parallel  with  the  Mississippi;  where  we 
joined  those  of  the  Foxes,  whose  village  was  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  opposite  the  lower 
end  of  Rock  island,  and  three  miles  distant  from 
ours.  We  had  about  eight  hundred  acres  in  cul 
tivation,  including  what  we  had  on  the  islands 
of  Rock  river.  The  land  around  our  vil 
lage,  uncultivated,  was  covered  with  blue-grass, 
which  made  excellent  pasture  for  our  horses. 
Several  fine  springs  broke  out  of  the  bluff,  near 
by,  from  which  we  were  supplied  with  good 
water.  The  rapids  of  Rock  river  furnished  us 


3Ufe  of  95Iacft  i^atoft 


with  an  abundance  of  excellent  fish,  and  the 
land,  being  good,  never  failed  to  produce  good 
crops  of  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  and  squashes. 
We  always  had  plenty  —  our  children  never 
cried  with  hunger,  nor  our  people  were  never 
in  want.  Here  our  village  had  stood  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  during  all  which  time  we 
were  the  undisputed  possessors  of  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Ouisconsin  to  the 
Portage  des  Sioux,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri,  being  about  seven  hundred  miles  in 
length. 

At  this  time  we  had  very  little  intercourse 
with  the  whites,  except  our  traders.  Our  vil 
lage  was  healthy,  and  there  was  no  place  in 
the  country  possessing  such  advantages,  nor 
no  hunting  grounds  better  than  those  we  had 
in  possession.  If  another  prophet  had  come 
to  our  village  in  those  days,  and  told  us  what 
has  since  taken  place,  none  of  our  people  would 
have  [72]  believed  him!  What!  to  be  driven 
from  our  village  and  hunting  grounds,  and  not 
even  permitted  to  visit  the  graves  of  our  fore 
fathers,  our  relations  and  friends? 

This  hardship  is  not  known  to  the  whites. 
With  us  it  is  a  custom  to  visit  the  graves  of  our 
friends,  and  keep  them  in  repair  for  many  years. 
The  mother  will  go  alone  to  weep  over  the  grave 
of  her  child!  The  brave,  with  pleasure,  visits 
the  grave  of  his  father,  after  he  has  been  suc 
cessful  in  war,  and  repaints  the  post  that  shows 
where  he  lies!  There  is  no  place  like  that 
89 


3tife  of  2£>lacft  l^atoh 


where  the  bones  of  our  forefathers  lie,  to  go 
to  when  in  grief.  Here  the  Great  Spirit  will 
take  pity  on  us! 

But,  how  different  is  our  situation  now,  from 
what  it  was  in  those  days!  Then  we  were  as 
happy  as  the  buffalo  on  the  plains — but  now, 
we  are  as  miserable  as  the  hungry,  howling  wolf 
in  the  prairie!  But  I  am  digressing  from  my 
story.  Bitter  reflection  crowds  upon  my  mind, 
and  must  find  utterance. 

When  we  returned  to  our  village  in  the  spring, 
from  our  wintering  grounds,  we  would  finish 
trading  with  our  traders,  who  always  followed 
us  to  our  village.  We  purposely  kept  some 
of  our  fine  furs  for  this  trade;  and,  as  there 
was  great  opposition  among  them,  who  should 
get  these  skins,  we  always  got  our  goods  cheap. 
After  this  trade  was  over,  the  traders  would 
give  us  a  few  kegs  of  rum,  which  was  gener 
ally  promised  in  the  fall,  to  en- [73]  courage  us 
to  make  a  good  hunt,  and  not  go  to  war. 
They  would  then  start  with  their  furs  and  pel 
tries  for  their  homes.  Our  old  men  would 
take  a  frolic,  (at  this  time  our  young  men 
never  drank.)  When  this  was  ended,  the  next 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  bury  our  dead,  (such  as 
had  died  during  the  year.)  This  is  a  great 
medicine  feast.  The  relations  of  those  who  have 
died,  give  all  the  goods  they  have  purchased, 
as  presents  to  their  friends — thereby  reducing 
themselves  to  poverty,  to  show  the  Great 
Spirit  that  they  are  humble,  so  that  he  will 
90 


Hife  of  SMacfc 


take  pity  on  them.  We  would  next  open  the 
cashes,  and  take  out  corn  and  other  provisions, 
which  had  been  put  up  in  the  fall  —  and  then 
commence  repairing  our  lodges.  As  soon  as 
this  is  accomplished,  we  repair  the  fences 
around  our  fields,  and  clean  them  off,  ready 
for  planting  corn.  This  work  is  done  by 
our  women.  The  men,  during  this  time,  are 
feasting  on  dried  venison,  bear's  meat,  wild 
fowl,  and  corn,,  prepared  in  different  ways; 
and  recounting  to  each  other  what  took  place 
during  the  winter. 

Our  women  plant  the  corn,  and  as  soon  as 
they  get  done,  we  make  a  feast,  and  dance  the 
crane  dance,  in  which  they  join  us,  dressed  in 
their  best,  and  decorated  with  feathers.  At 
this  feast  our  young  braves  select  the  young 
woman  they  wish  to  have  for  a  wife.  He  then 
informs  his  mother,  who  calls  on  the  mother 
of  the  girl,  when  the  arrangement  [74]  is  made, 
and  the  time  appointed  for  him  to  come.  He 
goes  to  the  lodge  when  all  are  asleep,  (or  pre 
tend  to  be,)  lights  his  matches,  which  have 
been  provided  for  the  purpose,  and  soon  finds 
where  his  intended  sleeps.  He  then  awakens 
her,  and  holds  the  light  to  his  face  that  she 
may  know  him — after  which  he  places  the 
light  close  to  her.  If  she  blows  it  out,  the 
ceremony  is  ended,  and  he  appears  in  the  lodge 
next  morning,  as  one  of  the  family.  If  she 
does  not  blow  out  the  light,  but  leaves  it  to 
burn  out,  he  retires  from  the  lodge.  The  next 


of 


day  he  places  himself  in  full  view  of  it,  and 
plays  his  flute.  The  young  women  go  out, 
one  by  one,  to  see  who  he  is  playing  for.  The 
tune  changes,  to  let  them  know  that  he  is  not 
playing  for  them.  When  his  intended  makes 
her  appearance  at  the  door,  he  continues  his 
courting  tune,  until  she  returns  to  the  lodge. 
He  then  gives  over  playing,  and  makes  another 
trial  at  night,  which  generally  turns  out  favor 
able.  During  the  first  year  they  ascertain 
whether  they  can  agree  with  each  other,  and 
.can  be  happy — if  not,  they  part,  and  each 
looks  out  again.  If  we  were  to  live  together 
and  disagree,  we  should  be  as  foolish  as  the 
whites!  No  indiscretion  can  banish  a  woman 
from  her  parental  lodge — no  difference  how 
many  children  she  may  bring  home,  she  is  al 
ways  welcome  —  the  kettle  is  over  the  fire  to 
feed  them. 

The  crane  dance  often  lasts  two  or  three 
days.  When  this  is  over,  we  feast  again,  and 
have  our  [75]  national  dance.  The  large  square 
in  the  village  is  swept  and  prepared  for  the 
purpose.  The  chiefs  and  old  warriors,  take 
seats  on  mats  which  have  been  spread  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  square  —  the  drummers  and 
singers  come  next,  and  the  braves  and  women 
form  the  sides,  leaving  a  large  space  in  the 
middle.  The  drums  beat,  and  the  singers 
commence.  A  warrior  enters  the  square,  keep 
ing  time  with  the  music.  He  shows  the 
manner  he  started  on  a  war  party — how  he 
92 


SifeofSMacft^atoft 


approached  the  enemy — he  strikes,  and  de 
scribes  the  way  he  killed  him.  All  join  in 
applause.  He  then  leaves  the  square,  and 
another  enters  and  takes  his  place.  Such  of 
our  young  men  as  have  not  been  out  in  war 
parties,  and  killed  an  enemy,  stand  back 
ashamed — not  being  able  to  enter  the  square. 
I  remember  that  I  was  ashamed  to  look  where 
our  young  women  stood,  before  I  could  take 
my  stand  in  the  square  as  a  warrior. 

What  pleasure  it  is  to  an  old  warrior,  to 
see  his  son  come  forward  and  relate  his  exploits 

—  it  makes  him  feel  young,  and  induces  him 
to  enter  the  square,  and  "fight  his  battles  o'er 
again." 

This  national  dance  makes  our  warriors. 
When  I  was  travelling  last  summer,  on  a  steam 
boat,  on  a  large  river,  going  from  New  York 
to  Albany,  I  was  shown  the  place  where  the 
Americans  dance  their  national  dance  [West 
Point];  where  the  old  warriors  recount  to  their 
young  men,  what  they  have  done,  to  [76]  stim 
ulate  them  to  go  and  do  likewise.  This 
surprised  me,  as  I  did  not  think  the  whites 
understood  our  way  of  making  braves. 

When  our  national  dance  is  over — our  corn 
fields  hoed,  and  every  weed  dug  up,  and  our 
corn  about  knee-high,  all  our  young  men  would 
start  in  a  direction  towards  sun-down,  to  hunt 
deer  and  buffalo  —  being  prepared,  also,  to  kill 
Sioux,  if  any  are  found  on  our  hunting  grounds 

—  a  part  of  our  old  men  and  women  to  the 

93 


atife  of  SSiacft 


lead  mines  to  make  lead — and  the  remainder 
of  our  people  start  to  fish,  and  get  mat  stuff. 
Every  one  leaves  the  village,  and  remains  about 
forty  days.  They  then  return:  the  hunting 
party  bringing  in  dried  buffalo  and  deer  meat, 
and  sometimes  Sioux  scalps,  when  they  are 
found  trespassing  on  our  hunting  grounds.  At 
other  times  they  are  met  by  a  party  of  Sioux 
too  strong  for  them,  and  are  driven  in.  If  the 
Sioux  have  killed  the  Sacs  last,  they  expect  to 
be  retaliated  upon,  and  will  fly  before  them, 
and  vice  versa.  Each  party  knows  that  the 
other  has  a  righ.t  to  retaliate,  which  induces 
those  who  have  killed  last,  to  give  way  before 
their  enemy — as  neither  wish  to  strike,  except 
to  avenge  the  death  of  their  relatives.  All  our 
wars  are  predicated  by  the  relatives  of  those 
killed;  or  by  aggressions  upon  our  hunting 
grounds. 

The  party  from  the  lead  mines  bring  lead, 
and  the  others  dried  fish,  and  mats  for  our  win 
ter  lodges.  Presents  are  now  made  by  each 
party;  the  first,  giving  to  the  others  dried 
buffalo  and  deer,  and  they,  in  [77]  exchange, 
presenting  them  with  lead,  dried  fish  and  mats. 
This  is  a  happy  season  of  the  year — having 
plenty  of  provisions,  such  as  beans,  squashes, 
and  other  produce,  with  our  dried  meat  and 
fish,  we  continue  to  make  feasts  and  visit  each 
other,  until  our  corn  is  ripe.  Some  lodge  in 
the  village  makes  a  feast  daily,  to  the  Great 
Spirit.  I  cannot  explain  this  so  that  the  white 

94 


life  of  25lacft  f  atoft 


people  would  comprehend  me,  as  we  have  no 
regular  standard  among  us.  Every  one  makes 
his  feast  as  he  thinks  best,  to  please  the  Great 
Spirit,  who  has  the  care  of  all  beings  created. 
Others  believe  in  two  Spirits:  one  good  and  one 
bad,  and  make  feasts  for  the  Bad  Spirit,  to 
keep  him  quiet!  If  they  can  make  peace  with 
him,  the  Good  Spirit  will  not  hurt  them!  For 
my  part,  I  am  of  opinion,  that  so  far  as  we 
have  reason,  we  have  a  right  to  use  it,  in  deter 
mining  what  is  right  or  wrong;  and  should 
pursue  that  path  which  we  believe  to  be  right 
—  believing  that,  "whatever  is,  is  right."  If 
the  Great  and  Good  Spirit  wished  us  to  believe 
and  do  as  the  whites,  he  could  easily  change 
our  opinions,  so  that  we  would  see,  and  think, 
and  act  as  they  do.  We  are  nothing  compared 
to  His  power,  and  we  feel  and  know  it.  We 
have  men  among  us,  like  the  whites,  who  pre 
tend  to  know  the  right  path,  but  will  not  con 
sent  to  show  it  without  pay!  I  have  no  faith 
in  their  paths  —  but  believe  that  every  man 
must  make  his  own  path! 

When  our  corn  is  getting  ripe,  our  young 
people  watch  with  anxiety  for  the  signal  to  pull 
roasting  ears  [78]  —  as  none  dare  touch  them 
until  the  proper  time.  When  the  corn  is  fit  to 
use,  another  great  ceremony  takes  place,  with 
feasting,  and  returning  thanks  to  the  Great 
Spirit  for  giving  us  corn. 

I  will  here  relate  the  manner  in  which  corn 
first  came.  According  to  tradition,  handed 
95 


ilife  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


down  to  our  people,  a  beautiful  woman  was 
seen  to  descend  from  the  clouds,  and  alight 
upon  the  earth,  by  two  of  our  ancestors,  who 
had  killed  a  deer,  and  were  sitting  by  a  fire, 
roasting  a  part  of  it  to  eat.  They  were  aston 
ished  at  seeing  her,  and  concluded  that  she 
must  be  hungry,  and  had  smelt  the  meat — and 
immediately  went  to  her,  taking  with  them  a 
piece  of  the  roasted  venison.  They  presented 
it  to  her,  and  she  eat — and  told  them  to  return 
to  the  spot  where  she  was  sitting,  at  the  end 
of  one  year,  and  they  would  find  a  reward  for 
their  kindness  and  generosity.  She  then  as 
cended  to  the  clouds,  and  disappeared.  The 
two  men  returned  to  their  village,  and  ex 
plained  to  the  nation  what  they  had  seen,  done, 
and  heard — but  were  laughed  at  by  their 
people.  When  the  period  arrived,  for  them 
to  visit  this  consecrated  ground,  where  they 
were  to  find  a  reward  for  their  attention  to  the 
beautiful  woman  of  the  clouds,  they  went  with 
a  large  party,  and  found,  where  her  right  hand 
had  rested  on  the  ground,  corn  growing — and 
where  the  left  hand  had  rested,  beans, —  and 
immediately  where  she  had  been  seated,  tobacco. 
The  two  first  have,  ever  since,  been  culti 
vated  by  [79]  our  people,  as  our  principal  pro 
visions —  and  the  last  used  for  smoking.  The 
white  people  have  since  found  out  the  latter, 
and  seem  to  relish  it  as  much  as  we  do  —  as- 
they  use  it  in  different  ways,  viz.  smoking, 
snuffing  and  eating! 

96 


Sjfe  of  25Iacft 


We  thank  the  Great  Spirit  for  all  the  benefits 
he  has  conferred  upon  us.  For  myself,  I 
never  take  a  drink  of  water  from  a  spring, 
without  being  mindful  of  his  goodness. 

We  next  have  our  great  ball  play — from 
three  to  five  hundred  on  a  side,  play  this  game. 
We  play  for  horses,  guns,  blankets,  or  any 
other  kind  of  property  we  have.  The  success 
ful  party  take  the  stakes,  and  all  retire  to  our 
lodges  in  peace  and  friendship. 

We  next  commence  horse-racing,  and  con 
tinue  our  sport  and  feasting,  until  the  corn  is 
all  secured.  We  then  prepare  to  leave  our 
village  for  our  hunting  grounds.  The  traders 
arrive,  and  give  us  credit  for  such  articles  as 
we  want  to  clothe  our  families,  and  enable  us 
to  hunt.  We  first,  however,  hold  a  council 
with  them,  to  ascertain  the  price  they  will  give 
us  for  our  skins,  and  what  they  will  charge  us 
for  goods.  We  inform  them  where  we  intend 
hunting — and  tell  them  where  to  build  their 
houses.  At  this  place,  we  deposit  part  of 
our  corn,  and  leave  our  old  people.  The 
traders  have  always  been  kind  to  them,  and 
relieved  them  when  in  want.  They  were  al 
ways  much  respected  by  our  people  —  and 
never  since  we  have  been  a  nation,  has  one  of 
them  been  killed  by  any  of  our  people. 

[80]  We  disperse,  in  small  parties,  to  make 
our  hunt,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  over,  we  return 
to  our  traders'  establishment,  with  our  skins, 
and  remain  feasting,  playing  cards  and  other 

97 


Sife  of  SWacfe 


pastimes,  until  near  the  close  of  the  winter. 
Our  young  men  then  start  on  the  beaver  hunt; 
others  to  hunt  raccoons  and  muskrats — and 
the  remainder  of  our  people  go  to  the  sugar 
camps  to  make  sugar.  All  leave  our  encamp 
ment,  and  appoint  a  place  to  meet  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  so  that  we  may  return  to  our  village 
together,  in  the  spring.  We  always  spent  our 
time  pleasantly  at  the  sugar  camp.  It  being 
the  season  for  wild  fowl,  we  lived  well,  and 
always  had  plenty,  when  the  hunters  came  in, 
that  we  might  make  a  feast  for  them.  After 
this  is  over,  we  return  to  our  village,  accom 
panied,  sometimes,  by  our  traders.  In  this 
way,  the  year  rolled  round  happily.  But  these 
are  times  that  were! 

On  returning,  in  the  spring,  from  our  hunt 
ing  ground,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our 
old  friend,  the  trader  of  Peoria,  at  Rock  Island. 
He  came  up  in  a  boat  from  St.  Louis,  not  as 
a  trader,  as  in  times  past,  but  as  our  agent. 
We  were  all  pleased  to  see  him.  He  told  us, 
that  he  narrowly  escaped  falling  into  the  hands 
of  Dixon.  He  remained  with  us  a  short  time, 
gave  us  good  advice,  and  then  returned  to 
St.  Louis. 

The  Sioux  having  committed  depredations 
on  our  people,  we  sent  out  war  parties  that 
summer,  who  succeeded  in  killing  fourteen. 
I  paid  several  visits  to  fort  Armstrong  during 
the  summer,  and  was  always  [81]  well  treated. 
We  were  not  as  happy  then  in  our  village  as 
98 


Hife  of  25Iatft 


formerly.  Our  people  got  more  liquor  than 
customary.  I  used  all  my  influence  to  prevent 
drunkenness,  but  without  effect.  As  the  settle 
ments  progressed  towards  us,  we  became  worse 
off,  and  more  unhappy.  Many  of  our  people, 
instead  of  going  to  their  old  hunting  grounds, 
where  game  was  plenty,  would  go  near  to  the 
settlements  to  hunt  —  and,  instead  of  saving 
their  skins  to  pay  the  trader  for  goods  furnished 
them  in  the  fall,  would  sell  them  to  the  settlers 
for  whiskey!  and  return  in  the  spring  with 
their  families,  almost  naked,  and  without  the 
means  of  getting  any  thing  for  them. 

About  this  time  my  eldest  son  was  taken 
sick  and  died.  He  had  always  been  a  dutiful 
child,  and  had  just  grown  to  manhood.  Soon 
after,  my  youngest  daughter,  an  interesting  and 
affectionate  child,  died  also.  This  was  a  hard 
'stroke,  because  I  loved  my  children.  In  my 
distress,  I  left  the  noise  of  the  village,  and  built 
my  lodge  on  a  mound  in  my  corn-field,  and 
enclosed  it  with  a  fence,  around  which  I  planted 
corn  and  beans.  Here  I  was  with  my  family 
alone.  I  gave  every  thing  I  had  away,  and 
reduced  myself  to  poverty.  The  only  cover 
ing  I  retained,  was  a  piece  of  buffalo  robe.  I 
resolved  on  blacking  my  face  and  fasting,  for 
two  years,  for  the  loss  of  my  two  children — 
drinking  only  of  water  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  and  eating  sparingly  of  boiled  corn  at  sun 
set.  I  fulfilled  my  promise,  hoping  that  the 
Great  Spirit  would  take  pity  on  me. 

99 


Hife  of  2Macft 


[82]  My  nation  had  now  some  difficulty  with 
the  loways,  with  whom  we  wished  to  be  at 
peace.  Our  young  men  had  repeatedly  killed 
some  of  the  loways;  and  these  breaches  had 
always  been  made  up  by  giving  presents  to  the 
relations  of  those  killed.  But  the  last  council 
we  had  with  them,  we  promised  that,  in  case 
any  more  of  their  people  were  killed  by  ours,  in 
stead  of  presents,  we  would  give  up  the  person, 
or  persons,  that  had  done  the  injury.  We 
made  this  determination  known  to  our  people; 
but,  notwithstanding,  one  of  our  young  men 
killed  an  loway  the  following  winter. 

A  party  of  our  people  were  about  starting 
for  the  loway  village  to  give  the  young  man 
up.  I  agreed  to  accompany  them.  When  we 
were  ready  to  start,  I  called  at  the  lodge  for 
the  young  man  to  go  with  us.  He  was  sick, 
but  willing  to  go.  His  brother,  however,  pre-* 
vented  him,  and  insisted  on  going  to  die  in  his 
place,  as  he  was  unable  to  travel.  We  started, 
and  on  the  seventh  day  arrived  in  sight  of  the 
Iowa  village,  and  within  a  short  distance  of  it, 
halted  and  dismounted.  We  all  bid  farewell 
to  our  young  brave,  who  entered  the  village 
alone,  singing  his  death-song,  and  sat  down  on 
the  square  in  the  middle  of  the  village.  One 
of  the  Iowa  chiefs  came  out  to  us.  We  told 
him  that  we  had  fulfilled  our  promise  —  that 
we  had  brought  the  brother  of  the  young  man 
who  had  killed  one  of  their  people  —  that  he 
had  volunteered  to  come  in  his  place,  in  con- 

100 


a  tfe  of  SWacfc 


sequence  of  his  brother  beih'g  enable-  tc  : 
from  sickness.  We  had  no  [83]  further  con 
versation,  but  mounted  our  horses  and  rode 
off.  As  we  started  I  cast  my  eye  toward  the 
village,  and  observed  the  loways  coming  out 
of  their  lodges  with  spears  and  war  clubs. 
We  took  our  trail  back,  and  travelled  until  dark 
—  then  encamped  and  made  a  fire.  We  had 
not  been  here  long,  before  we  heard  the  sound 
of  horses  coming  towards  us.  We  seized  our 
arms;  but  instead  of  any  enemy,  it  was  our 
young  brave  with  two  horses.  He  told  me 
that  after  we  had  left  him,  they  menaced  him 
with  death  for  some  time  —  then  gave  him 
something  to  eat — smoked  the  pipe  with  him — 
and  made  him  a  present  of  the  two  horses  and 
some  goods,  and  started  him  after  us.  When 
we  arrived  at  our  village,  our  people  were  much 
pleased;  and  for  the  noble  and  generous  con 
duct  of  the  loways,  on  this  occasion,  not  one 
of  their  people  has  been  killed  since  by  any  of 
our  nation. 

That  fall  I  visited  Maiden  with  several  of  my 
band,  and  twe]  were  well  treated  by  the  agent 
of  our  British  Father,  who  gave  us  a  variety  of 
presents.  He  also  gave  me  a  medal,  and  told 
me  there  never  would  be  war  between  England 
and  America  again;  but,  for  my  fidelity  to  the 
British  during  the  war  that  had  terminated 
some  time  before,  requested  me  to  come  with 
my  band  and  get  presents  every  year,  as  Colonel 
Dixon  had  promised  me. 
101 


ifcof  25Iacft  f  atoft 


-ec,  ana,  «huijted  that  winter  on  the 
Two-Rivers.  The  whites  were  now  settling 
the  country  fast.  I  was  out  one  day  hunting 
in  a  bottom,  and  met  [84]  three  white  men. 
They  accused  me  of  killing  their  hogs.  I 
denied  it;  but  they  would  not  listen  to  me. 
One  of  them  took  my  gun  out  of  my  hand  and 
fired  it  off — then  took  out  the  flint,  gave  back 
my  gun,  and  commenced  beating  me  with 
sticks,  and  ordered  me  off.  I  was  so  much 
bruised  that  I  could  not  sleep  for  several 
nights. 

Some  time  after  this  occurrence,  one  of  my 
camp  cut  a  bee-tree,  and  carried  the  honey  to 
his  lodge.  A  party  of  white  men  soon  fol 
lowed,  and  told  him  the  bee-tree  was  theirs, 
and  that  he  had  no  right  to  cut  it.  He  pointed 
to  the  honey  and  told  them  to  take  it;  they 
were  not  satisfied  with  this,  but  took  all  the 
packs  of  skins  that  he  had  collected  during 
the  winter,  to  pay  his  trader  and  clothe  his 
family  with  in  the  spring,  and  carried  them 
off! 

How  could  we  like  such  people,  who  treated 
us  so  unjustly?  We  determined  to  break  up 
our  camp,  for  fear  that  they  would  do  worse  — 
and  when  we  joined  our  people  in  the  spring, 
a  great  many  of  them  complained  of  similar 
treatment. 

This  summer27  our  agent  came  to  live  at 
Rock  Island.  He  treated  us  well,  and  gave 

27  The  summer  of  1819,  apparently. 

102 


Itife  of  25Iacfe 


us  good  advice.  I  visited  him  and  the  trader 
very  often  during  the  summer,  and,  for  the 
first  time,  heard  talk  of  our  having  to  leave  my 
village.  The  trader,  explained  to  me  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  that  had  been  made,  and  said  we 
would  be  obliged  to  leave  the  Illinois  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  advised  us  to  select  a 
good  place  for  [85]  our  village,  and  remove  to 
it  in  the  spring.  He  pointed  out  the  difficul 
ties  we  would  have  to  encounter  if  we  remained 
at  our  village  on  Rock  river.  He  had  great 
influence  with  the  principal  Fox  chief,  his 
adopted  brother,  and  persuaded  him  to  leave 
his  village,  go  to  the  west  side  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river  and  build  another — which  he  did 
the  spring  following.  Nothing  was  talked  of 
but  leaving  our  village.  Ke-o-kuck  had  been 
persuaded  to  consent  to  go;  and  was  using 
all  his  influence,  backed  by  the  war  chief  at 
fort  Armstrong  and  our  agent  and  trader  at 
Rock  Island,  to  induce  others  to  go  with  him. 
He  sent  the  crier  through  the  village  to  inform 
our  people  that  it  was  the  wish  of  our  Great 
Father  that  we  should  remove  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi  —  and  recommended  the 
loway  river  as  a  good  place  for  the  new  vil 
lage —  and  wished  his  party  to  make  such 
arrangements,  before  they  started  on  their 
winter's  hunt,  as  to  preclude  the  necessity  of 
their  returning  to  the  village  in  the  spring. 

The  party  opposed  to  removing  called  upon 
me  for  my  opinion.     I  gave  it  freely  —  and 
103 


Hife  of  2Macft  f  atoft 


after  questioning  Quash-qua-me  about  the  sale 
of  our  lands,  he  assured  me  that  he  "never 
had  consented  to  the  sale  of  our  village."  I 
now  promised  this  party  to  be  their  leader,  and 
raised  the  standard  of  opposition  to  Ke-o-kuck, 
with  a  full  determination  not  to  leave  my  village. 
I  had  an  interview  with  Ke-o-kuck,  to  see  if 
this  difficulty  could  not  be  settled  with  our 
Great  [86]  Father — and  told  him  to  propose 
to  give  other  land,  (any  that  our  Great  Father 
might  choose,  even  our  lead  mines,}  to  be 
peaceably  permitted  to  keep  the  small  point  of 
land  on  which  our  village  and  lands  were  situ 
ate.  I  was  of  opinion  that  the  white  people 
had  plenty  of  land,  and  would  never  take  our 
village  from  us.  Ke-o-kuck  promised  to  make 
an  exchange  if  possible;  and  applied  to  our 
agent,  and  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  (who 
has  charge  of  all  the  agents,)  for  permission 
to  go  to  Washington  to  see  our  Great  Father 
for  that  purpose.  This  satisfied  us  for  some 
time.  We  started  to  our  hunting  grounds,  in 
good  hopes  that  something  would  be  done  for 
us.  During  the  winter  I  received  information 
that  three  families  of  whites  had  arrived  at 
our  village  and  destroyed  some  of  our  lodges, 
and  were  making  fences  and  dividing  our  corn 
fields  for  their  own  use  —  and  were  quarreling 
among  themselves  about  their  lines  in  the  divi 
sion!  I  immediately  started  for  Rock  river 
a  distance  of  ten  days'  travel,  and  on  my 
arrival  found  the  report  to  be  true.  I  went 
104 


Stfc  of  3Marft 


to  my  lodge,  and  saw  a  family  occupying  it. 
I  wished  to  talk  with  them  but  they  could  not 
understand  me.  I  then  went  to  Rock  Island, 
and  (the  agent  being  absent,)  told  the  inter 
preter  what  I  wanted  to  say  to  these  people, 
viz:  "Not  to  settle  on  our  lands — nor  trouble 
our  lodges  or  fences — that  there  was  plenty 
of  land  in  the  country  for  them  to  settle 
upon  —  and  they  must  leave  our  village,  as  we 
were  coming  back  to  it  in  the  [87]  spring." 
The  interpreter  wrote  me  a  paper,  and  I  went 
back  to  the  village,  and  showed  it  to  the  in 
truders,  but  could  not  understand  their  reply. 
I  expected,  however,  that  they  would  remove, 
as  I  requested  them.  I  returned  to  Rock 
Island,  passed  the  night  there,  and  had  a  long 
conversation  with  the  trader.  He  again  ad 
vised  me  to  give  up,  and  make  my  village 
with  Ke-o-kuck,  on  the  loway  river.  I  told 
him  that  I  would  not.  The  next  morning  I 
crossed  the  Mississippi,  on  very  bad  ice  —  but 
the  Great  Spirit  made  it  strong,  that  I  might 
pass  over  safe.  I  travelled  three  days  farther 
to  see  the  Winnebago  sub-agent,  and  converse 
with  him  on  the  subject  of  our  difficulties. 
He  gave  no  better  news  than  the  trader  had 
done.  I  started  then,  by  way  of  Rock  river, 
to  see  the  prophet,28  believing  that  he  was  a 

28 The  "prophet,"  White  Cloud,  a  man  of  mixed 

Winnebago  and  Sac  descent,  had  a  village  on  Rock 

River  some  thirty-five  miles  above  its  mouth.     In 

Sac  history  and  in  Black  Hawk's  life  he  played  a 

105 


Ilife  of  25Iatft 


man  of  great  knowledge.  When  we  met,  I 
explained  to  him  everything  as  it  was.  He  at 
once  agreed  that  I  was  right,  and  advised  me 
never  to  give  up  our  village,  for  the  whites  to 
plough  up  the  bones  of  our  people.  He  said, 
that  if  we  remained  at  our  village,  the  whites 
would  not  trouble  us  —  and  advised  me  to  get 
Ke-o-kuck,  and  the  party  that  had  consented 
to  go  with  him  to  the  loway  in  the  spring,  to 
return,  and  remain  at  our  village. 

I  returned  to  my  hunting  ground,  after  an 
absence  of  one  moon,  and  related  what  I  had 
done.  In  a  short  time  we  came  up  to  our 
village,  and  found  that  the  whites  had  not  left 
it  —  but  that  others  had  come,  and  that  the 
greater  part  of  our  corn-fields  had  been  [88] 
enclosed.  When  we  landed,  the  whites  ap 
peared  displeased  because  we  came  back. 
We  repaired  the  lodges  that  had  been  left 
standing,  and  built  others.  Ke-o-kuck  came 
to  the  village;  but  his  object  was  to  persuade 
others  to  follow  him  to  the  loway.  He  had 
accomplished  nothing  towards  making  arrange 
ments  for  us  to  remain,  or  to  exchange  other 
lands  for  our  village.  There  was  no  more 

role  similar  to  that  of  the  more  famous  "prophet," 
the  brother  of  Tecumseh,  in  the  affairs  of  his  people. 
Thwaites  characterizes  White  Cloud  as  Black  Hawk's 
"evil  genius."  "His  hatred  of  the  whites  was  in 
veterate;  he  appears  to  have  been  devoid  of  humane 
sentiments ;  he  had  a  reckless  disposition,  and 
seemed  to  enjoy  sowing  the  seeds  of  disorder  for 
the  simple  pleasure  of  witnessing  a  border  chaos." 
106 


Hifc  of  2£Hacft 


friendship  existing  between  us.  I  looked  upon 
him  as  a  coward,  and  no  brave,  to  abandon 
his  village  to  be  occupied  by  strangers.  What 
right  had  these  people  to  our  village,  and  our 
fields,  which  the  Great  Spirit  had  given  us  to 
live  upon  ? 

My  reason  teaches  me  that  land  cannot  be 
sold.  The  Great  Spirit  gave  it  to  his  children 
to  live  upon,  and  cultivate  as  far  as  is  necessary 
for  their  subsistence;  and  so  long  as  they  occupy 
and  cultivate  it,  they  have  the  right  to  the  soil — 
but  if  they  voluntarily  leave  it,  then  any  other 
people  have  a  right  to  settle  upon  it.  Nothing 
can  be  sold  but  such  things  as  can  be  carried 
away. 

In  consequence  of  the  improvements  of  the 
intruders  on  our  fields,  we  found  considerable 
difficulty  to  get  ground  to  plant  a  little  corn. 
Some  of  the  whites  permitted  us  to  plant  small 
patches  in  the  fields  they  had  fenced,  keeping 
all  the  best  ground  for  themselves.  Our 
women  had  great  difficulty  in  climbing  their 
fences,  (being  unaccustomed  to  the  kind,)  and 
were  ill-treated  if  they  left  a  rail  down. 

One  of  my  old  friends  thought  he  was  safe. 
His  [89]  corn-field  was  on  a  small  island  of 
Rock  river.  He  planted  his  corn;  it  came  up 
well — but  the  white  man  saw  it!  —  he  wanted 
the  island,  and  took  his  teams  over,  ploughed  up 
the  corn,  and  re-planted  it  for  himself !  The  old 
man  shed  tears;  not  for  himself  but  the  distress 
his  family  would  be  in  if  they  raised  no  corn. 
107 


3tife  of  25Iatft 


The  white  people  brought  whisky  into  our 
village,  made  our  people  drunk,  and  cheated 
them  out  of  their  horses,  guns,  and  traps! 
This  fraudulent  system  was  carried  to  such  an 
extent  that  I  apprehended  serious  difficulties 
might  take  place,  unless  a  stop  was  put  to  it. 
Consequently,  I  visited  all  the  whites  and 
begged  them  not  to  sell  whisky  to  my  people. 
One  of  them  continued  the  practice  openly. 
I  took  a  party  of  my  young  men,  went  to  his 
house,  and  took  out  his  barrel  and  broke  in 
the  head  and  poured  out  the  whisky.  I  did 
this  for  fear  some  of  the  whites  might  be  killed 
by  my  people  when  drunk. 

Our  people  were  treated  badly  by  the  whites 
on  many  occasions.  At  one  time,  a  white  man 
beat  one  of  our  women  cruelly,  for  pulling  a 
few  suckers  of  corn  out  of  his  field,  to  suck, 
when  hungry.  At  another  time,  one  of  our 
young  men  was  beat  with  clubs  by  two  white 
men  for  opening  a  fence  which  crossed  our 
road,  to  take  his  horse  through.  His  shoulder 
blade  was  broken,  and  his  body  badly  bruised, 
from  which  he  soon  after  died! 

Bad,  and  cruel,  as  our  people  were  treated 
by  the  [90]  whites,  not  one  of  them  was  hurt 
or  molested  by  any  of  my  band.  I  hope  this 
will  prove  that  we  are  a  peaceable  people — 
having  permitted  ten  men  to  take  possession 
of  our  corn-fields;  prevent  us  from  planting 
corn;  burn  our  lodges;  ill-treat  our  women; 
and  beat  to  death  our  men,  without  offering 
108 


Sife  of  2Macfe 


resistance  to  their  barbarous  cruelties.  This 
is  a  lesson  worthy  for  the  white  man  to  learn : 
to  use  forbearance  when  injured. 

We  acquainted  our  agent  daily  with  our 
situation,  and  through  him,  the  great  chief29 
at  St.  Louis — and  hoped  that  something  would 
be  done  for  us.  The  whites  were  complaining 
at  the  same  time  that  we  were  intriiding  upon 
their  rights!  THEY  made  themselves  out 
the  injured  party,  and  we  the  intruders  !  And 
called  loudly  to  the  great  war  chief  to  protect 
their  property. 

How  smooth  must  be  the  language  of  the 
whites,  when  they  can  make  right  look  like 
wrong,  and  wrong  like  right. 

During  this  summer,  I  happened  at  Rock 
Island  when  a  great  chief  arrived,  whom  I  had 
known  as  the  great  chief  of  Illinois,  [Governor 
Cole]  in  company  with  another  chief,  who,  I 
have  been  told,  is  a  great  writer  [  Judge  Jas.  Hall.] 
I  called  upon  them  and  begged  to  explain  to 
them  the  grievances,  under  which  me  and  my 
people  were  laboring,  hoping  that  they  could  do 
something  for  us.  The  great  chief,  however, 
did  not  seem  disposed  to  council  with  me. 
He  said  [91]  he  was  no  longer  the  chief  of 
Illinois — that  his  children  had  selected  another 
father  in  his  stead,  and  that  he  now  only 

29  This  was  General  Wm.  Clark  of  Lewis  and 
Clark  fame,  who  had  general  administrative  control 
of  the  tribes  tributary  to  St.  Louis  and  west  of  the 
Mississippi. 

109 


Hife  of  SMacft  l^atoft 


ranked  as  they  did.  I  was  surprised  at  this 
talk,  as  I  had  always  heard  that  he  was  a  good, 
brave,  and  great  chief.  But  the  white  people 
never  appear  to  be  satisfied.  When  they  get 
a  good  father,  they  hold  councils,  (at  the 
suggestion  of  some  bad,  ambitious  man,  who 
wants  the  place  himself,)  and  conclude,  among 
themselves  that  this  man,  or  some  other 
equally  ambitious,  would  make  a  better  father 
than  they  have,  and  nine  times  out  of  ten  they 
don't  get  as  good  a  one  again. 

I  insisted  on  explaining  to  these  two  chiefs 
the  true  situation  of  my  people.  They  gave 
their  assent.  I  arose  and  made  a  speech,  in 
which  I  explained  to  them  the  treaty  made 
by  Quash-qua-me,  and  three  of  our  braves, 
according  to  the  manner  the  trader  and  others 
had  explained  it  to  me.  I  then  told  them  that 
Quash-qua-me  and  his  party  denied,  positively, 
having  ever  sold  my  village;  and  that,  as  I  had 
never  known  them  to  lie,  I  was  determined  to 
keep  it  in  possession. 

I  told  them  that  the  white  people  had  already 
entered  our  village,  burnt  our  lodges,  destroyed 
our  fences,  ploughed  up  our  corn,  and  beat  our 
people:  that  they  had  brought  whisky  into  our 
country,  made  our  people  drunk,  and  taken 
from  them  their  horses,  guns,  and  traps',  and 
that  I  had  borne  all  this  injury,  without  suffer 
ing  any  of  my  braves  to  raise  a  hand  against 
the  whites. 

[92]  My  object  in  holding  this  council,  was 
no 


3life  of  S&Iacfc 


to  get  the  opinion  of  these  two  chiefs,  as  to 
the  best  course  for  me  to  pursue.  I  had 
appealed  in  vain,  time  after  time,  to  our  agent, 
who  regularly  represented  our  situation  to  the 
chief  at  St.  Louis,  whose  duty  it  was  to  call 
upon  our  Great  Father  to  have  justice  done  to 
us;  but  instead  of  this,  we  are  told  that  the 
white  people  want  our  country  and  we  must 
leave  it  to  them! 

I  did  not  think  it  possible  that  our  Great 
Father  wished  us  to  leave  our  village,  where 
we  had  lived  so  long,  and  where  the  bones  of 
so  many  of  our  people  had  been  laid.  The 
great  chief  said  that,  as  he  was  no  longer  a 
chief,  he  could  do  nothing  for  us;  and  felt 
sorry  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  aid  us — 
nor  did  he  know  how  to  advise  us.  Neither 
of  them  could  do  anything  for  us;  but  both 
evidently  appeared  very  sorry.  It  would  give 
me  great  pleasure,  at  all  times,  to  take  these 
two  chiefs  by  the  hand. 

That  fall  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  agent,  before 
we  started  to  our  hunting  grounds,  to  hear  if 
he  had  any  good  news  for  me.  He  had  news! 
He  said  that  the  land  on  which  our  village  stood 
was  now  ordered  to  be  sold  to  individuals; 
and  that,  when  sold,  our  right  to  remain,  by 
treaty,  would  be  at  an  end,  and  that  if  we 
returned  next  spring,  we  would  be  forced  to 
remove ! 

We  learned  during  the  winter  that  part  of 
the  lands  where  our  village  stood  had  been  sold 
in 


atife  of  SMacft  J^atoft 


to  individuals,  and  that  the  trader  at  Rock 
Island  had  bought  the  [93]  greater  part  that 
had  been  sold.  The  reason  was  now  plain  to 
me  why  he  urged  us  to  remove.  His  object, 
we  thought,  was  to  get  our  lands.  We  held 
several  councils  that  winter  to  determine  what 
we  should  do,  and  resolved,  in  one  of  them,  to 
return  to  our  village  in  the  spring,  as  usual; 
and  concluded,  that  if  we  were  removed  by  force, 
that  the  trader,  agent,  and  others,  must  be  the 
cause;  and  that,  if  found  guilty  of  having  us 
driven  from  our  village  they  should  be  killed! 
The  trader  stood  foremost  on  this  list.  He 
had  purchased  the  land  on  which  my  lodge 
stood,  and  that  of  our  grave  yard  also !  Ne- 
a-pope  promised  to  kill  him,  the  agent,  the 
interpreter,  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  the 
war  chief  at  fort  Armstrong,  Rock  Island,  and 
Ke-o-kuck — these  being  the  principal  persons 
to  blame  for  endeavoring  to  remove  us. 

Our  women  received  bad  accounts  from  the 
women  that  had  been  raising  corn  at  the  new 
village  —  the  difficulty  of  breaking  the  new 
prairie  with  hoes — and  the  small  quantity  of 
corn  raised.  We  were  nearly  in  the  same  sit 
uation  with  regard  to  the  latter,  it  being  the 
first  time  I  ever  knew  our  people  to  be  in  want 
of  provision. 

I  prevailed  upon  some  of  Ke-o-kuck's  band 

to  return  this  spring  to  the  Rock  river  village. 

Ke-o-kuck  would  not  return  with  us.     I  hoped 

that  we  would  get  permission  to  go  to  Wash- 

112 


ftife  of  2Macfe 


ington  to  settle  our  affairs  with  our  Great 
Father.  I  visited  the  agent  at  Rock  Island. 
He  was  displeased  because  we  had  returned 
[94]  to  our  village,  and  told  me  that  we  must 
remove  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.  I  told 
him  plainly  that  we  would  not!  I  visited  the 
interpreter  at  his  house,  who  advised  me  to  do 
as  the  agent  had  directed  me.  I  then  went  to 
see  the  trader  and  upbraided  him  for  buying 
our  lands.  He  said  that  if  he  had  not  pur 
chased  them,  some  person  else  would,  and  that 
if  our  Great  Father  would  make  an  exchange 
with  us,  he  would  willingly  give  up  the  land 
he  had  purchased  to  the  government.  This  I 
thought  was  fair,  and  began  to  think  that  he 
had  not  acted  as  badly  as  I  had  suspected. 
We  again  repaired  our  lodges,  and  built  others, 
as  most  of  our  village  had  been  burnt  and 
destroyed.  Our  women  selected  small  patches 
to  plant  corn,  (where  the  whites  had  not  taken 
them  within  their  fences,)  and  worked  hard  to 
raise  something  for  our  children  to  subsist 
upon. 

I  was  told  that,  according  to  the  treaty,  we 
had  no  right  to  remain  upon  the  lands  sold^ 
and  that  the  government  would  force  us  to 
leave  them.  There  was  but  a  small  portion, 
however,  that  had  been  sold;  the  balance  re 
maining  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  we 
claimed  the  right  (if  we  had  no  other)  to  "live 
and  hunt  upon,  as  long  as  it  remained  the 
property  of  the  government,"  by  a  stipulation 


itife  of  SSlacft 


in  the  same  treaty  that  required  us  to  evacuate 
it  after  it  had  been  sold.  This  was  the  land 
that  we  wished  to  inhabit,  and  thought  we  had 
the  best  right  to  occupy. 

I  heard  that  there  was  a  great  chief  on  the 
Wabash,  [95]  and  sent  a  party  to  get  his  ad 
vice.  They  informed  him  that  we  had  not 
sold  our  village.  He  assured  them,  then,  that 
if  we  had  not  sold  the  land  on  which  our  vil 
lage  stood,  our  Great  Father  would  not  take 
it  from  us. 

I  started  early  to  Maiden  to  see  the  chief  of 
my  British  Father,  and  told  him  my  story. 
He  gave  the  same  reply  that  the  chief  on  the 
Wabash  had  given;  and  in  justice  to  him,  I 
must  say,  he  never  gave  me  any  bad  advice: 
but  advised  me  to  apply  to  our  American 
Father,  who,  he  said,  would  do  us  justice.  I 
next  called  on  the  great  chief  at  Detroit,  and 
made  the  same  statement  to  him  that  I  had 
to  the  chief  of  our  British  Father.  He  gave 
the  same  reply.  He  said,  if  we  had  not  sold 
our  lands,  and  would  remain  peaceably  on  them, 
that  we  would  not  be  disturbed.  This  assured 
me  that  I  was  right,  and  determined  me  to 
hold  out,  as  I  had  promised  my  people. 

I  returned  from  Maiden  late  in  the  fall. 
My  people  were  gone  to  their  hunting  ground, 
whither  I  followed.  Here  I  learned  that  they 
had  been  badly  treated  all  summer  by  the 
whites;  and  that  a  treaty  had  been  held  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  Ke-o-kuck  and  some  of 
114 


Hife  of  2Wacfc 


our  people  attended  it,  and  found  out  that 
our  Great  Father  had  exchanged  a  small  strip 
of  the  land  that  was  ceded  by  Quash-qua-me  and 
his  party,  with  the  Pottowattomies,  fpr  a  por 
tion  of  their  land,  near  Chicago ;  and  that  the 
object  of  this  treaty  was  to  get  it  back  again; 
and  that  the  United  States  had  agreed  to  [96] 
give  them  sixteen  thousand  dollars  a  year,  for 
ever,  for  this  small  strip  of  land — it  being 
less  than  the  twentieth  part  of  that  taken  from 
our  nation,  for  one  thousand  dollars  a  year! 
This  bears  evidence  of  something  I  cannot 
explain.  This  land  they  say  belonged  to  the 
United  States.  What  reason,  then,  could  have 
induced  them  to  exchange  it  with  the  Potto 
wattomies,  if  it  was  so  valuable  ?  Why  not 
keep  it  ?  Or,  if  they  found  that  they  had  made 
a  bad  bargain  with  the  Pottowattomies,  why 
not  take  back  their  land  at  a  fair  proportion  of 
what  they  gave  our  nation  for  it?  If  this 
small  portion  of  the  land  that  they  took  from 
us  for  one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  be  worth 
sixteen  thousand  dollars  a  year  forever,  to 
the  Pottowattomies,  then  the  whole  tract  of 
country  taken  from  us  ought  to  be  worth,  to 
our  nation,  twenty  times  as  much  as  this  small 
fraction. 

Here  I  was  again  puzzled  to  find  out  how 
the  white  people  reasoned;  and  began  to  doubt 
whether  they  had  any  standard  of  right  and 
wrong! 

Communication  was  kept  up  between  myself 


Etfe  of  2Macfc  J^atoft 


and  the  Prophet.  Runners  were  sent  to  the 
Arkansas,  Red  river  and  Texas — not  on  the 
subject  of  our  lands,  but  a  secret  mission, 
which  I  am  not,  at  present,  permitted  to 
explain. 

It  was  related  to  me,  that  the  chiefs  and 
headmen  of  the  Foxes  had  been  invited  to 
Prairie  du  Chien,  to  hold  a  council  to  settle 
the  differences  existing  between  them  and  the 
Sioux.  That  the  chiefs  and  [97]  headmen, 
amounting  to  nine,  started  for  the  place  desig 
nated,  taking  with  them  one  woman — and 
were  met  by  the  Menomonees  and  Sioux,  near 
the  Ouisconsin  and  all  killed,  except  one  man. 
Having  understood  that  the  whole  matter  was 
published  shortly  after  it  occurred,  and  is 
known  to  the  white  people,  I  will  say  no  more 
about  it. 

I  would  here  remark,  that  our  pastimes  and 
sports  had  been  laid  aside  for  two  years.  We 
were  a  divided  people,  forming  two  parties. 
Ke-o-kuck  being  at  the  head  of  one,  willing 
to  barter  our  rights  merely  for  the  good 
opinion  of  the  whites;  and  cowardly  enough 
to  desert  our  village  to  them.  I  was  at  the 
head  of  the  other  party,  and  was  determined 
to  hold  on  to  my  village,  although  I  had  been 
ordered  to  leave  it.  But,  I  considered,  as 
myself  and  band  had  no  agency  in  selling  our 
country — and  that  as  provision  had  been  made 
in  the  treaty,  for  us  all  to  remain  on  it  as  long 
as  it  belonged  to  the  United  States,  that  we 
116 


Itife  of  2Mach 


could  not  be  forced  away.  I  refused,  there 
fore,  to  quit  my  village.  It  was  here,  that  I 
was  'born — and  here  lie  the  bones  of  many 
friends  and  relations.  For  this  spot  I  felt  a 
sacred  reverence,  and  never  could  consent  to 
leave  it,  without  being  forced  therefrom. 

When  I  called  to  mind  the  scenes  of  my 
youth,  and  those  of  later  days — and  reflected 
that  the  theatre  on  which  these  were  acted, 
had  been  so  long  the  home  of  my  fathers, 
who  now  slept  on  the  hills  around  [98]  it,  I 
could  not  bring  my  mind  to  consent  to  leave 
this  country  to  the  whites,  for  any  earthly  con 
sideration. 

The  winter  passed  off  in  gloom.  We  made 
a  bad  hunt,  for  want  of  guns,  traps,  'etc.  that 
the  whites  had  taken  from  our  people  for 
whisky!  The  prospect  before  us  was  a  bad 
one.  I  fasted,  and  called  upon  the  Great 
Spirit  to  direct  my  steps  to  the  right  path. 
I  was  in  great  sorrow  —  because  all  the  whites 
with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  and  had  been 
on  terms  of  friendship,  advised  me  so  contrary 
to  my  wishes,  that  I  began  to  doubt  whether  I 
had  a  friend  among  them. 

Ke-o-kuck,  who  has  a  smooth  tongue,  and 
is  a  great  speaker,  was  busy  in  persuading  my 
band  that  I  was  wrong — and  thereby  making 
many  of  them  dissatisfied  with  me.  I  had  one 
consolation — for  all  the  women  were  on  my 
side,  on  account  of  their  corn-fields. 

On  my  arrival  again  at  my  village,  with  my 
117 


Eife  of  SMacft 


band  increased,  I  found  it  worse  than  before. 
I  visited  Rock  Island.  The  agent  again  ordered 
me  to  quit  my  village.  He  said,  that  if  we 
did  not,  troops  would  be  sent  to  drive  us  off. 
He  reasoned  with  me,  and  told  me,  it  would 
be  better  for  us  to  be  with  the  rest  of  our 
people,  so  that  we  might  avoid  difficulty,  and 
live  in  peace.  The  interpreter  joined  him,  and 
gave  me  so  many  good  reasons,  that  I  almost 
wished  I  had  not  undertaken  the  difficult  task 
that  I  had  [99]  pledged  myself  to  my  brave 
band  to  perform.  In  this  mood,  I  called  upon 
the  trader,  who  is  fond  of  talking,  and  had 
long  been  my  friend,  but  jiow  amongst  those 
advising  me  to  give  up  my  village.  He  received 
me  very*  friendly,  and  went  on  to  defend  Ke- 
o-kuck  in  what  he  had  done,  and  endeavored 
to  show  me  that  I  was  bringing  distress  on 
our  women  and  children.  He  inquired,  if 
some  terms  could  not  be  made,  that  would 
be  honorable  to  me,  and  satisfactory  to  my 
braves,  for  us  to  remove  to  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi  ?  I  replied,  that  if  our  Great 
Father  would  do  us  justice,  and  would  make 
the  proposition,  I  could  then  give  up  honorably. 
He  asked  me,  "if  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis 
would  give  us  six  thousand  dollars  to  purchase 
provisions  and  other  articles,  if  I  would  give 
up  peaceably,  and  remove  to  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi?"  After  thinking  some  time, 
I  agreed  that  I  could  honorably  give  up,  by 
being  paid  for  it,  according  to  our  customs; 
118 


Eife  of  2£>Iacfe 


but  told  him,  that  I  could  not  make  the  pro 
posal  myself,  even  if  I  wished,  because  it 
would  be  dishonorable  in  me  to  do  so.  He 
said  he  would  do  it,  by  sending  word  to  the 
great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  that  he  could  remove 
us  peaceably,  for  the  amount  stated,  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  A  steam-boat 
arrived  at  the  island  during  my  stay.  After 
its  departure,  the  trader  told  me  that  he  had 
' '  requested  a  war  chief,  who  was  stationed  at 
Galena,  and  was  on  board  the  steam-boat,  to 
make  the  offer  to  the  great  chief  at  St.  Louis, 
and  that  he  would  soon  be  back,  and  bring  his 
answer."  I  did  not  let  my  [  IOO]  people  know 
what  had  taken  place,  for  fear  they  would  be 
displeased.  I  did  not  like  what  had  been  done 
myself,  and  tried  to  banish  it  from  my  mind. 

After  a  few  days  had  passed,  the  war  chief 
returned,  and  brought  for  answer,  that  "the 
great  chief  at  St.  Louis  would  give  us  nothing! 
—  and  said  if  we  did"  not  remove  immediately 
we  should  be  drove  off!" 

I  was  not  much  displeased  with  the  answer 
brought  by  the  war  chief,  because  I  would 
rather  have  laid  my  bones  with  my  forefathers 
than  remove  for  any  consideration.  Yet  if 
a  friendly  offer  had  been  made,  as  I  expected, 
I  would,  for  the  sake  of  my  women  and  chil 
dren,  have  removed  peaceably. 

I  now  resolved  to  remain  in  my  village,  and 
make  no  resistance,  if  the  military  came,  but 
submit  to  my  fate!  I  impressed  the  import- 
119 


ilife  of  2Macfc 


ance  of  this  course  on  all  my  band,  and  directed 
them,  in  case  the  military  came,  not  to  raise 
an  arm  against  them. 

About  this  time,  our  agent30  was  put  out  of 
office  —  for  what  reason,  I  could  never  ascer 
tain.  I  then  thought,  if  it  was  for  wanting  to 
make  us  leave  our  village  it  was  right — because 
I  was  tired  of  hearing  him  talk  about  it.  The 
interpreter,  who  had  been  equally  as  bad  in 
trying  to  persuade  us  to  leave  our  village,  was 
retained  in  office  —  and  the  young  man  who 
took  the  place  of  our  agent,  told  the  same  old 
story  over  about  removing  us.  I  was  then 
satisfied,  that  this  could  not  have  been  the 
cause. 

[  101  ]  Our  women  had  planted  a  few  patches 
of  corn,  which  was  growing  finely,  and  prom 
ised  a  subsistence  for  our  children — but  the 
white  people  again  commenced  ploughing  it  up! 
I  now  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  it,  by  clear 
ing  our  country  of  the  intruders.  I  went  to 
the  principal  men  and  told  them  that  they 
must  and  should  leave  our  country — and  gave 
them  until  the  middle  of  the  next  day,  to  re 
move  in.  The  worst  left  within  the  time 
appointed — but  the  one  who  remained,  repre 
sented,  that  his  family,  ( which  was  large, ) 
would  be  in  a  starving  condition,  if  he  went  and 
left  his  crop  —  and  promised  to  behave  well, 
if  I  would  consent  to  let  him  remain  until  fall, 

30  Thomas  Forsyth.  He  retired  to  his  home  at 
St.  Louis,  where  he  died  in  1833. 

120 


Kife  of  25lacft 


in  order  to  secure  his  crop.  He  spoke  reason 
ably,  and  I  consented. 

We  now  resumed  some  of  our  games  and 
pastimes — having  been  assured  by  the  prophet 
that  we  would  not  be  removed.  But  in  a  little 
while  it  was  ascertained,  that  a  great  war  chief, 
[Gen.  Gaines,]  with  a  large  number  of  soldiers 
was  on  his  way  to  Rock  river.  I  again  called 
upon  the  prophet,  who  requested  a  little  time 
to  see  into  the  matter.  Early  next  morning 
he  came  to  me,  and  said  he  had  been  dreaming  ! 
"That  he  saw  nothing  bad  in  this  great  war 
chief,  [Gen.  Gaines,]  who  was  now  near  Rock 
river.  That  the  object  of  his  mission  was  to 
frighten  us  from  our  village,  that  the  white 
people  might  get  our  land  for  nothing  ! ' '  He 
assured  us  that  this  "great  war  chief  dare  not, 
and  would,  not  hurt  any  of  us.  That  the 
[102]  Americans  were  at  peace  with  the  Brit 
ish,  and  when  they  made  peace,  the  British 
required,  (which  the  Americans  agreed  to,) 
that  they  should  never  interrupt  any  nation  of 
Indians  that  was  at  peace  —  and  that  all  we 
had  to  do  to  retain  our  village,  was  to  refuse 
any,  and  every  offer  that  might  be  made  by 
this  war  chief." 

The  war  chief  arrived,  and  convened  a 
council  at  the  agency.  Ke-o-kuck  and  Wa- 
pel-lo  were  sent  for,  and  came  with  a  number 
of  their  band.  The  council  house  was  opened, 
and  they  were  all  admitted.  Myself  and  band 
were  then  sent  for  to  attend  the  council. 
121 


Hife  of  25iacfe 


When  we  arrived  at  the  door,  singing  a  war 
song,  and  armed  with  lances,  spears,  war  clubs 
and  bows  and  arrows,  as  if  going  to  battle,  I 
halted,  and  refused  to  enter — as  I  could  see 
no  necessity  or  propriety  in  having  the  room 
crowded  with  those  who  were  already  there. 
If  the  council  was  convened  for  us,  why  have 
others  in  our  room?  The  war  chief  having 
sent  all  out,  except  Ke-o-kuck,  Wa-pel-lo,  and 
a  few  of  their  chiefs  and  braves,  we  entered 
the  council  house  in  this  war-like  appearance, 
being  desirous  to  show  the  war  chief  that  we 
were  not  afraid!  He  then  rose  and  made  a 
speech.  He  said: 

"The  president  is  very  sorry  to  be  put  to 
the  trouble  and  expense  of  sending  a  large 
body  of  soldiers  here,  to  remove  you  from  the 
lands  you  have  long  since  ceded  to  the  United 
States.  Your  Great  [  103  ]  Father  has  already 
warned  you  repeatedly,  through  your  agent, 
to  leave  the  country ;  and  he  is  very  sorry  to 
find  that  you  have  disobeyed  his  orders.  Your 
Great  Father  wishes  you  well ;  and  asks 
nothing  from  you  but  what  is  reasonable 
and  right.  I  hope  you  will  consult  your 
own  interests,  and  leave  the  country  you  are 
occupying,  and  go  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Mississippi." 

I  replied:     "That  we  had  never  sold  our 
country.      We   never  received   any  annuities 
from  our  American  father!    and  we  are  de 
termined  to  hold  on  to  our  village!" 
122 


Sife  of  25lacft  J^atoft 


The  war  chief,  apparently  angry,  rose  and 
said: — 

"Who  is  Black  Hawk?  Who  is  Black 
Hawk?" 

I  responded:  "  I  am  a  Sac!  My  forefather 
was  a  SAC!  and  all  the  nations  call  me  a 
SAC!!" 

The  war  chief  said: 

"I  came  here,  neither  to  beg  nor  hire  you 
to  leave  your  village.  My  business  is  to  re 
move  you,  peaceably  if  I  can,  but  forcibly  if  I 
must !  I  will  now  give  you  two  days  to  remove 
in — and  if  you  do  not  cross  the  Mississippi 
within  that  time,  I  will  adopt  measures  to 
force  you  away ! ' ' 

I  told  him  that  I  never  could  consent  to  leave 
my  village  and  was  determined  not  to  leave  it! 

The  council  broke  up,  and  the  war  chief 
retired  to  the  fort.  I  consulted  the  prophet 
again!  He  said  he  had  been  dreaming,  and 
that  the  Great  Spirit  had  di-[iO4]rected  that 
a  woman,  the  daughter  of  Mat-ta-tas,  the  old 
chief  of  the  village,  should  take  a  stick  in  her 
hand  and  go  before  the  war  chief,  and  tell  him 
that  she  is  the  daughter  of  Mat-ta-tas,  and  that 
he  had  alw-ays  been  the  white  man's  friend! 
That  he  had  fought  their  battles — been 
wounded  in  their  service — and  had  always 
spoke  well  of  them  —  and  she  had  never  heard 
him  say  that  he  had  sold  their  village.  The 
whites  are  numerous,  and  can  take  it  from  us 
if  they  choose,  but  she  hoped  they  would  not 
123 


3tife  of  SWacft 


be  so  unfriendly.  If  they  were,  she  had  one 
favor  to  ask;  she  wished  her  people  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  long  enough  to  gather  the 
provisions  now  growing  in  their  fields;  that 
she  was  a  woman,  and  had  worked  hard  to 
raise  something  to  support  her  children !  And, 
if  we  are  driven  from  our  village  without  being 
allowed  to  save  our  corn,  many  of  our  little 
children  must  perish  with  hunger!" 

Accordingly,  Mat-ta-tas'  daughter  was  sent 
to  the  fort,  accompanied  by  several  of  our 
young  men.  They  were  admitted.  She  went 
before  the  war  chief,  and  told  the  story  of  the 
prophet!  The  war  chief  said  that  the  presi 
dent  did  not  send  him  here  to  make  treaties 
with  the  women,  nor  to  hold  council  with  them! 
That  our  young  men  must  leave  the  fort,  but 
she  might  remain  if  she  wished! 

All  our  plans  were  now  defeated.  We  must 
cross  the  river,  or  return  to  our  village  and 
await  the  coming  of  the  war  chief  with  his 
soldiers.  We  determined  on  the  latter:  but 
finding  that  our  agent,  interpreter,  [  105  ]  trader, 
and  Ke-o-kuck,  (who  were  determined  on 
breaking  my  ranks,)  had  seduced  several  of 
my  warriors  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  I  sent  a 
deputation  to  the  agent,  at  the  request  of  my 
band,  pledging  myself  to  leave  the  country  in 
the  fall,  provided  permission  was  given  us  to 
remain,  and  secure  our  crop  of  corn,  then 
growing — as  we  would  be  in  a  starving  situa 
tion  if  we  were  driven  off  without  the  means 
of  subsistence. 

124 


:U iff  of  23Uuh 


The  deputation  returned  with  an  answer 
from  the  war  chief,  "that  no  further  time 
would  be  given  than  that  specified,  and  if  we 
were  not  then  gone,  he  would  remove  us!" 

I  directed  my  village  crier  to  proclaim,  that 
my  orders  were,  in  the  event  of  the  war  chief 
coming  to  our  village  to  remove  us,  that  not  a 
gun  should  be  fired  nor  any  resistance  offered. 
That  if  he  determined  to  fight,  for  them  to 
remain,  quietly  in  their  lodges,  and  let  him 
kill  them  if  he  chose ! 

I  felt  conscious  that  this  great  war  chief 
would  not  hurt  our  people  —  and  my  object  was 
not  war!  Had  it  been,  we  would  have  at 
tacked,  and  killed  the  war  chief  and  his  braves, 
when  in  council  with  us  —  as  they  were  then 
completely  in  our  power.  But  his  manly  con 
duct  and  soldierly  deportment,  his  mild,  yet 
energetic  manner,  which  proved  his  bravery, 
forbade  it. 

Some  of  our  young  men  who  had  been  out 
as  spies  t  came  in  and  reported,  that  they  had 
discovered  a  large  body  of  mounted  men  com 
ing  towards  our  village,  who  [  106]  looked  like 
a  war  party .^  They  arrived,  and  took  a 
position  below  Rock  river,  for  their  place  of 

31  The  "party"  consisted  of  1600  Illinois  militia 
under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Reynolds,  called 
out  to  drive  the  Sacs  across  the  Mississippi.  Black 
Hawk's  narrative  of  what  followed  is  much  too  tame 
to  do  justice  to  the  facts.  For  a  fuller  account,  in 
cluding  a  number  of  original  documents,  see  Stevens, 
op.  cit.,  chaps.  XII  and  XIII. 

125 


•ttife  of  S&lacfc 


encampment.  The  great  war  chief,  (Gen. 
Gaines,)  entered  Rock  river  in  a  steam-boat, 
with  his  soldiers  and  one  big  gun!  They 
passed,  and  returned  close  by  our  village;  but 
excited  no  alarm  among  my  braves.  No  atten 
tion  was  paid  to  the  boat  by  any  of  our  people 
—  even  our  little  children,  who  were  playing 
on  the  bank  of  the  river,  as  usual,  continued 
their  amusement.  The  water  being  shallow, 
the  boat  got  aground,  which  gave  the  whites 
some  trouble.  If  they  had  asked  for  assist 
ance,  there  was  not  a  brave  in  my  band,  who 
would  not  willingly  have  aided  them.  Their 
people  were  permitted  to  pass  and  repass 
through  our  village,  and  were  treated  with 
friendship  by  our  people. 

The  war  chief  appointed  the  next  day  to 
remove  us!  I  would  have  remained  and  been 
taken  prisoner  by  the  regulars,  but  was  afraid 
of  the  multitude  of  pale  faces,  who  were  on 
horse  back,  as  they  were  under  no  restraint  of 
their  chiefs. 

We  crossed  the  Mississippi  during  the  night, 
and  encamped  some  distance  below  Rock 
Island.  The  great  war  chief  convened  another 
council,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty 
with  us.  In  this  treaty  he  agreed  to  give  us 
corn  in  place  of  that  we  had  left  growing  in 
our  fields.  I  touched  the  goose  quill  to  this 
treaty,  and  was  determined  to  live  in  peace. 

The  corn  that  had  been  given  us,  was  soon 
found  to  [107]  be  inadequate  to  our  wants; 
126 


Jlife  of  25lacft 


when  loud  lamentations  were  heard  in  the 
camp,  by  our  women  and  children,  for  their 
roasting-ears,  beans  and  squashes.  To  satisfy 
them,  a  small  party  of  braves  went  over,  in 
the  night,  to  steal  corn  from  their  own  fields. 
They  were  discovered  by  the  whites,  and  fired 
upon.  Complaints  were  again  made  of  the 
depredations  committed  by  some  of  my  people, 
on  their  own  corn  fields  ! 

I  understood  from  our  agent,  that  there  had 
been  a  provision  made  in  one  of  our  treaties 
for  assistance  in  agriculture,  and  that  we  could 
have  our  fields  ploughed  if  we  required  it.  I 
therefore  called  upon  him,  and  requested  him 
to  have  me  a  small  log  house  built,  and  a  field 
plowed  that  fall,  as  I  wished  to  live  retired. 
He  promised  to  have  it  done.  I  then  went  to 
the  trader,  and  asked  for  permission  to  be 
buried  in  the  grave-yard  at  our  village,  among 
my  old  friends  and  warriors;  which  he  gave 
me  cheerfully.  I  then  returned  to  my  people 
satisfied. 

A  short  time  after  this,  a  party  of  Foxes 
went  up  to  Prairie  du  Chien  to  avenge  the 
murder  of  their  chiefs  and  relations,  which 
had  been  committed  the  summer  previous,  by 
the  Menomonees  and  Sioux.  When  they  ar 
rived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  encampment  of  the 
Menomonees,  they  met  with  a  Winnebago,  and 
inquired  for  the  Menomonee  camp;  and  they 
requested  him  to  go  on  before  them  and  see  if 
there  were  any  Winnebagoes  in  it — and  if  so, 
127 


3tife  of  25lacft 


to  tell  them  that  they  had  better  return  to  their 
own  camp.  He  went,  and  gave  the  in-  [108] 
formation,  not  only  to  the  Winnebagoes,  but  to 
the  Menomonees,  that  they  might  be  prepared. 
The  party  soon  followed,  killed  twenty-eight 
Menomonees,  and  made  their  escape. 
•  This  retaliation,  (which  with  us  is  considered 
lawful  and  right,)  created  considerable  excite 
ment  among  the  whites !  A  demand  was  made 
for  the  Foxes  to  be  surrendered  to,  and  tried 
by,  the  white  people!  The  principal  men  came 
to  me  during  the  fall,  and  asked  my  advice. 
I  conceived  that  they  had  done  right,  and  that 
our  Great  Father  acted  very  unjustly,  in  de 
manding  them,  when  he  had  suffered  all  their 
chiefs  to  be  decoyed  away,  and  murdered  by 
the  Menomonees,  without  having  ever  made  a 
similar  demand  of  them.  If  he  had  no  right 
in  the  first  instance,  he  had  none  now;  and 
for  my  part,  I  conceived  the  right  very  ques 
tionable,  if  not  altogether  usurpation,  in  any 
case,  where  a  difference  exists  between  two 
nations,  for  him  to  interfere!  The  Foxes 
joined  my  band,  with  an  intention  to  go  out 
with  them  to  hunt. 

About  this  time,  Ne-a-pope,  (who  started 
to  Maiden  when  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
great  war  chief,  Gen.  Gaines,  was  coming  to 
remove  us,)  returned.  He  said  he  had  seen 
the  chief  of  our  British  Father,  and  asked  him 
if  the  Americans  could  force  us  to  leave  our 
village?  He  said — "If  we  had  not  sold  our 
128 


Eife  of  SMacft 


village  and  land  the  American  government 
could  not  take  them  from  us.  That  the  right, 
being  vested  in  us,  could  only  be  transferred 
by  the  voice  and  will  of  [109]  the  whole 
nation;  and  that,  as  we  had  never  given  our 
consent  to  the  sale  of  our  country,  it  remained 
our  exclusive  property — from  which  the  Amer 
ican  government  could  never  force  us  away! 
and  that,  in  the  event  of  war,  we  should  have 
nothing  to  fear  /  as  they  would  stand  by  and 
assist  us ! " 

He  said  he  had  called  at  the  prophet's  vil 
lage  on  his  way  down,  and  had  there  learned, 
for  the  first  time,  that  we  had  left  our  village. 
He  informed  me,  privately,  that  the  prophet 
was  anxious  to  see  me,  as  he  had  much  good 
news  to  tell  me,  and  that  I  would  hear  good 
news  in  the  spring  from  our  British  Father. 
The  prophet  requested  me  to  inform  you  of 
all  the  particulars.  I  would  much  rather,  how 
ever,  you  should  see  him,  and  learn  all  from 
himself.  But  I  will  tell  you,  that  he  has  re 
ceived  expresses  from  our  British  father,  who 
says  that  he  is  going  to  send  us  guns,  ammu 
nition,  provisions,  and  clothing,  early  in  the 
spring.  The  vessels  that  bring  them  will  come 
by  way  of  Mil-wa-ke.  The  prophet  has  like 
wise  received  wampum  and  tobacco  from  the 
different  nations  on  the  lakes — Ottawas, 
Chippewas,  Pottowattomies;  and  as  for  the 
Winnebagoes,  he  has  them  all  at  his  command. 
We  are  going  to  be  happy  once  more! 
129 


ilife  of  25lacft 


I  told  him  that  I  was  pleased  that  our  British 
Father  intended  to  see  us  righted.  That  we 
had  been  driven  from  our  lands  without  re 
ceiving  anything  for  them  —  and  I  now  began 
to  hope,  from  his  talk,  that  my  people  would 
be  once  more  happy.  If  [  1 10  ]  I  could  accom 
plish  this,  I  would  be  satisfied.  I  am  now 
growing  old,  and  could  spend  the  remnant  of 
my  time  anywhere.  But  I  wish  first  to  see 
my  people  happy.  I  can  then  leave  them 
cheerfully.  This  has  always  been  my  constant 
aim;  and  I  now  begin  to  hope  that  our  sky 
will  soon  be  clear. 

Ne-a-pope  said:  "  The  prophet  told  me  that 
all  the  different  tribes  before  mentioned  would 
fight  for  us,  if  necessary,  and  the  British 
would  support  us.  And,  if  we  should  be 
whipped,  (which  is  hardly  possible,)  we  will 
still  be  safe,  the  prophet  having  received  a 
friendly  talk  from  the  chief  of  Was-sa-cum- 
mi-co,  (at  Selkirk's  settlement,)  telling  him, 
that  if  we  were  not  satisfied  in  our  country,  to 
let  him  know,  and  he  would  make  us  happy. 
That  he  had  received  information  from  our 
British  father,  that  we  had  been  badly  treated 
by  the  Americans.  We  must  go  and  see  the 
prophet.  I  will  go  first;  you  had  better  re 
main  and  get  as  many  of  our  people  to  join  us 
as  you  can.  You  now  know  every  thing  that 
we  have  done.  We  leave  the  matter  with  you 
to  arrange  among  your  people  as  you  please.  I 
will  return  to  the  prophet's  village  to-morrow. 
130 


3tife  of 


You  can,  in  the  mean  time,  make  up  your  mind 
as  to  the  course  you  will  take,  and  send  word 
to  the  prophet  by  me,  as  he  is  anxious  to  assist 
us,  and  wishes  to  know  whether  you  will  join 
us,  and  assist  to  make  your  people  happy!" 

During  that  night,  I  thought  over  every 
thing  that  Ne-a-pope  had  told  me,  and  was 
pleased  to  think  that,  [  1 1 1  ]  by  a  little  exertion 
on  my  part,  I  could  accomplish  the  object  of 
all  my  wishes.  I  determined  to  follow  the 
advice  of  the  prophet,  and  sent  word  by  Ne- 
a-pope,  that  I  would  get  all  my  braves  together, 
explain  every  thing  that  I  had  heard  to  them ; 
and  recruit  as  many  as  I  could  from  the  differ 
ent  villages. 

Accordingly,  I  sent  word  to  Ke-o-kuck's 
band  and  the  Fox  tribe,  and  explained  to  them 
all  the  good  news  I  had  heard.  They  would 
not  hear.  Ke-o-kuck  said  that  I  had  been 
imposed  upon  by  liars,  and  had  much  better 
remain  where  I  was  and  keep  quiet.  When 
he  found  that  I  was  determined  to  make  an 
attempt  to  secure  my  village,  and  fearing  that 
some  difficulty  would  arise,  he  made  applica 
tion  to  the  agent  and  great  chief  at  St.  Louis, 
for  permission  for  the  chiefs  of  our  nation  to 
go  to  Washington  to  see  our  Great  Father,  that 
we  might  have  our  difficulties  settled  amicably. 
Ke-o-kuck  also  requested  the  trader,  who  was 
going  on  to  Washington,  to  call  on  our  Great 
Father  and  explain  everything  to  him,  and  ask 
for  permission  for  us  to  come  on  and  see  him. 


Hife  of  25Iatfe  J^atofc 


Having  heard  nothing  favorable  from  the 
great  chief  at  St.  Louis,  I  concluded  that  I 
had  better  keep  my  band  together,  and  recruit 
as  many  more  as  possible,  so  that  I  would  be 
prepared  to  make  the  attempt  to  rescue  my  vil 
lage  in  the  spring,  provided  our  Great  Father  did 
not  send  word  for  us  to  go  to  Washington,  [i  12] 

The  trader  returned.  He  said  he  had  called 
on  our  Great  Father  and  made  a  full  statement 
to  him  in  relation  to  our  difficulties,  and  had 
asked  leave  for  us  to  go  to  Washington,  but 
had  received  no  answer. 

I  had  determined  to  listen  to  the  advice  of 
my  friends  —  and  if  permitted  to  go  to  see  our 
Great  Father,  to  abide  by  his  counsel,  what 
ever  it  might  be.  Every  overture  was  made  by 
Ke-o-kuck  to  prevent  difficulty,  and  I  anxiously 
hoped  that  something  would  be  done  for  my 
people,  that  it  might  be  avoided.  But  there  was 
bad  management  somewhere,  or  the  difficulty 
that  has  taken  place  would  have  been  avoided. 

When  it  was  ascertained  that  we  would  not 
be  permitted  to  go  to  Washington,  I  resolved 
upon  my  course,  and  again  tried  to  recruit 
some  braves  from  Ke-o-kuck's  band  to  accom 
pany  me,  but  could  not.  • 

Conceiving  that  the  peaceable  disposition  of 
Ke-o-kuck  and  his  people  had  been,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  cause  of  our  having  been  driven 
from  our  village,  I  ascribed  their  present  feel 
ings  to  the  same  cause ;  and  immediately  went 
to  work  to  recruit  all  my  own  band,  and  made 
132 


aiife  of  25Iacft 


preparations  to  ascend  Rock  river.  I  made 
my  encampment  on  the  Mississippi,  where  fort 
Madison  had  stood;  requested  my  people  to 
rendezvous  at  that  place,  and  sent  out  soldiers 
to  bring  in  the  warriors,  and  stationed  my 
sentinels  in  a  position  to  prevent  any  from 
moving  up  until  all  were  ready. 

My  party  having  all  come  in  and  got  ready, 
we  commenced  our  march  up  the  Mississippi — 
our  women  [113]  and  children  in  canoes,  carry 
ing  such  provisions  as  we  had,  camp  equipage, 
&c.,  and  my  braves  and  warriors  on  horse 
back,  armed  and  equipped  for  defence.  The 
prophet  came  down  and  joined  us  below 
Rock  river,  having  called  at  Rock  Island  on 
his  way  down,  to  consult  the  war  chief,  agent, 
and  trader,  who,  (he  said)  used  many  argu 
ments  to  dissuade  him  from  going  with  us; 
and  requested  him  to  come  and  meet  us,  and 
turn  us  back.  They  told  him  also,  there  was 
a  war  chief  on  his  way  to  Rock  Island  with  a 
la*ge  body  of  soldiers.32 

32  This  was  General  Atkinson,  who  had  set  out 
from  Jefferson  Barracks  with  the  intention  of  com 
pelling  the  surrender  of  the  Foxes  who  had  murdered 
the  Menominee  at  Prairie  du  Chien  the  preceding 
year.  Thus  it  came  about  that  Atkinson  with  a 
small  force  of  regulars  was  on  the  spot,  so  to  speak, 
when  Black  Hawk's  invasion  precipitated  the  war. 
Recognizing  the  insufficiency  of  his  force  to  cope 
with  the  situation,  he  called  on  Governor  Reynolds 
for  assistance,  and  the  latter,  in  turn,  promptly 
issued  a  fiery  summons  to  the  Illinois  militia  to 
assemble  "  for  the  defense  of  their  country." 

133 


Itife  of  2Macft 


The  prophet  said  he  would  not  listen  to  this 
talk,  because  no  war  chief  dare  molest  us  as 
long  as  we  are  at  peace.  That  we  had  a  right 
to  go  where  we  pleased  peaceably;  and  advised 
me  to  say  nothing  to  my  braves  and  warriors 
until  we  encamped  that  night.  We  moved  on 
ward  until  we  arrived  at  the  place  where  Gen. 
Gaines  had  made  his  encampment  the  year 
before,  and  encamped  for  the  night.  The 
prophet  then  addressed  my  braves  and  war 
riors.  He  told  them  to  "follow  us,  and  act 
like  braves,  and  we  had  nothing  to  fear,  but 
much  to  gain.  That  the  American  war  chief 
might  come,  but  he  would  not,  nor  dare  not, 
interfere  with  us  so  long  as  we  acted  peaceably! 
That  we  were  not  yet  ready  to  act  otherwise. 
We  must  wait  until  we  ascend  Rock  river 
and  receive  our  reinforcements,  and  we  will 
then  be  able  to  withstand  any  army!" 

That  night  the  White  Beaver,  [Gen.  Atkin 
son,]  [114]  with  a  party  of  soldiers,  passed  up 
in  steam-boats.  Our  party  became  alarme^l, 
expecting  to  meet  soldiers  at  Rock  river,  to 
prevent  us  from  going  up.  On  our  arrival  at 
its  mouth,  we  discovered  that  the  steam-boats 
had  passed  on.  I  was  fearful  that  the  war 
chief  had  stationed  his  men  on  some  bluff,  or 
in  some  ravine,  that  we  might  be  taken  by 
surprise.  Consequently,  on  entering  Rock 
river,  we  commenced  beating  our  drums  and 
singing  to  show  the  Americans  that  we  were 
not  afraid. 

134 


3tife  of 


Having  met  with  no  opposition,  we  moved 
up  Rock  river  leisurely  some  distance,  when 
we  were  overtaken  by  an  express  from  the 
White  Beaver,  with  an  ORDER  for  me  to  re 
turn  with  my  band,  and  recross  the  Mississippi 
again.  I  sent  him  word  that  "I  would  not, 
( not  recognizing  his  right  to  make  such  a  de 
mand,)  as  I  was  acting  peaceably,  and  intended 
to  go  to  the  prophet's  village,  at  his  request, 
to  make  corn." 

The  express  returned.  We  moved  on,  and 
encamped  some  distance  below  the  prophet's 
village.  Here  another  express  came  from  the 
White  Beaver,  threatening  to  pursue  us  and 
drive  us  back,  if  we  did  not  return  peaceably! 
This  message  roused  the  spirit  of  my  band, 
and  all  were  determined  to  remain  with  me 
and  contest  the  ground  with  the  war  chief, 
should  he  come  and  attempt  to  drive  us.  We 
therefore  directed  the  express  to  say  to  the  war 
chief,  "  if  he  wished  to  fight  us,  he  might  come 
on ! "  We  were  determined  never  to  be  driven, 
and  equally  so,  not  to  [115]  make  the  first 
attack,  our  object  being  to  act  only  on  the  de 
fensive.  This  we  conceived  our  right. 

Soon  after  the  express  returned,  Mr.  Gratiot, 
sub-agent  for  the  Winnebagoes,  with  several 
of  the  chiefs  and  headmen  of  the  Winnebago 
nation,  came  to  our  encampment.  He  had 
no  interpreter — and  was  compelled  to  talk 
through  his  chiefs.  They  said  the  object  of 
his  mission  was,  to  persuade  us  to  return. 
135 


Hife  of  2Macft 


But  they  advised  us  to  go  on  —  assuring  us  that 
the  further  we  went  up  Rock  river  the  more 
friends  we  would  meet,  and  our  situation  be 
bettered;  that  they  were  on  our  side,  and  all 
their  people  were  our  friends:  that  we  must 
not  give  up  —  but  continue  to  ascend  Rock 
river,  on  which,  in  a  short  time,  we  would 
receive  a  reinforcement  sufficiently  strong  to 
repulse  any  enemy!  They  said  they  would  go 
down  with  their  agent,  to  ascertain  the  strength 
of  the  enemy,  and  then  return  and  give  us 
the  news :  that  they  had  to  use  some  stratagem 
to  deceive  their  agent,  in  order  to  help  us! 

During  this  council,  a  number  of  my  braves 
hoisted  the  British  flag,  mounted  their  horses, 
and  surrounded  the  council  lodge!  I  discov 
ered  that  the  agent  was  very  much  frightened! 
I  told  one  of  his  chiefs  to  tell  him  that  he 
need  not  be  alarmed — and  then  went  out  and 
directed  my  braves  to  desist.  Every  warrior 
immediately  dismounted  and  returned  to  his 
lodge.  After  the  council  adjourned,  I  placed 
a  sentinel  at  the  agent's  lodge,  to  guard  him — 
fearing  that  some  of  my  warriors  might  again 
frighten  him!  I  had  always  [116]  thought 
that  he  was  a  good  man,  and  was  determined 
that  he  should  not  be  hurt.  He  started,  with 
his  chiefs,  for  Rock  Island.33 

33 The    family  account   of   Gratiot's   experiences 

upon   his    mission    to    the    Indians    bears    quite    a 

different    complexion    than    does    Black    Hawk's 

story.     According  to  the  former,  Gratiot's  escape 

136 


Jttfe  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


Having  ascertained  that  the  White  Beaver 
would  not  permit  us  to  remain  here,  I  began 
to  consider  what  was  best  to  be  done,  and  con 
cluded  to  keep  up  the  river  and  see  the 
Pottowattomies,  and  have  a  talk  with  them. 
Several  Winnebago  chiefs  were  present,  whom 
I  advised  of  my  intentions,  as  they  did  not 
seem  disposed  to  render  us  any  assistance.  I 
asked  them  if  they  had  not  sent  us  wampum 
during  the  winter,  and  requested  us  to  come 
and  join  their  people  and  enjoy  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  their  country?  They  did 
not  deny  this ;  and  said  if  the  white  people 
did  not  interfere,  they  had  no  objection  to  our 
making  corn  this  year  with  our  friend  the 
prophet ;  but  did  not  wish  us  to  go  any  further 
up. 

The  next  day,  I  started  with  my  party  to 
Kish-wa-co-kee.34  That  night  I  encamped  a 
short  distance  above  the  prophet's  village. 
After  all  was  quiet  in  my  camp,  I  sent  for  my 
chiefs,  and  told  them  that  we  had  been  deceived! 
That  all  the  fair  promises  that  had  been  held 
out  to  us,  through  Ne-a-pope,  were  false! 
But  it  would  not  do  to  let  our  party  know  it. 
We  must  keep  it  secret  among  ourselves  — 

was  due  to  the  active  assistance  of  the  Prophet, 
and  Black  Hawk  is  given  no  credit  in  this  con 
nection.  See  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  X, 
252-55- 

^Kishwaukee  River,  which  empties  into  Rock 
River  a  few  miles  below  Rockford,  111. 

137 


Hife  of  25lacft  fatoft 


and  move  on  to  Kish-wa-co-kee,  as  if  all  was 
right,  and  say  something  on  the  way  to  en 
courage  our  people.  I  will  then  call  on  the 
Pottowattomies,  and  hear  what  they  say,  and 
see  what  they  will  do. 

[117]  We  started  the  next  morning,  after 
telling  our  people  that  news  had  just  come 
from  Mil-wa-kee  that  a  chief  of  our  British 
Father  would  be  there  in  a  few  days! 

Finding  that  all  our  plans  were  defeated,  I 
told  the  prophet  that  he  must  go  with  me,  and 
we  would  see  what  could  be  done  with  the 
Pottowattomies.  On  our  arrival  at  Kish-wa- 
co-kee,  an  express  was  sent  to  the  Pottowat- 
tomie  villages.  The  next  day  a  deputation 
arrived.  I  inquired  if  they  had  corn  in  their 
villages?  They  said  they  had  a  very  little 
and  could  not  spare  any!  I  asked  them 
different  questions,  and  received  unsatisfactory 
answers.  This  talk  was  in  the  presence  of  all 
my  people.  I  afterwards  spoke  to  them  pri 
vately,  and  requested  them  to  come  to  my  lodge 
after  my  people  had  got  to  sleep.  They  came, 
and  took  seats.  I  asked  them  if  they  had  re 
ceived  any  news  from  the  lake  from  the  British  ? 
They  said  no.  I  inquired  if  they  had  heard 
that  a  chief  of  our  British  Father  was  coming 
to  Mil-wa-kee  to  bring  us  guns,  ammunition, 
goods  and  provisions?  They  said,  no!  I 
then  told  them  what  news  had  been  brought 
to  me,  and  requested  them  to  return  to  their 
138 


Sife  of  2Macfe 


village,  and  tell  the  chiefs  that  I  wished  to  see 
them  and  have  a  talk  with  them. 

After  this  deputation  started,  I  concluded 
to  tell  my  people,  that  if  the  White  Beaver 
came  after  us,  we  would  go  back — as  it  was 
useless  to  think  of  stopping  or  going  on 
without  provisions.  I  discovered  that  the 
[118]  Winnebagoes  and  Potto wattomies  were 
not  disposed  to  render  us  any  assistance. 
The  next  day  the  Pottowattomie  chiefs  arrived 
at  my  camp.  I  had  a  dog  killed,  and  made  a 
feast.  When  it  was  ready,  I  spread  my  medi 
cine  bags,  and  the  chiefs  began  to  eat.  When 
the  ceremony  was  about  ending,  I  received 
news,  that  three  or  four  hundred  white  men, 
on  horse-back,  had  been  seen  about  eight  miles 
off.  I  immediately  started  three  young  men, 
with  a  white  flag,  to  meet  them,  and  conduct 
them  to  our  camp,  that  we  might  hold  a  council 
with  them,  and  descend  Rock  river  again. 
And  directed  them,  in  case  the  whites  had  en 
camped,  to  return,  and  I  would  go  and  see 
them.  After  this  party  had  started,  I  sent 
five  young  men  to  see  what  might  take  place. 
The  first  party  went  to  the  encampment  of  the 
whites,  and  were  taken  prisoners.  The  last 
party  had  not  proceeded  far,  before  they  saw 
about  twenty  men  coming  towards  them  in  full 
gallop!  They  stopped,  and  finding  that  the 
whites  were  coming  so  fast  in  a  warlike  atti 
tude,  they  turned  and  retreated,  but  were  pur- 
139 


Hife  of  25iacft  J^atofe 


sued,  and  two  of  them  overtaken  and  killed! 
The  others  made  their  escape.  When  they 
came  in  with  the  news,  I  was  preparing  my 
flags  to  meet  the  war  chief.  The  alarm  was 
given.  Nearly  all  my  young  men  were  absent, 
about  ten  miles  off.  I  started  with  what  I  had 
left,  (about  forty,}  and  had  proceeded  but  a 
short  distance,  before  we  saw  a  part  of  the 
army  approaching.  I  raised  a  yell,  and  said 
to  my  braves: — "Some-of  our  people  have 
been  killed!  [119]  —  wantonly  and  cruelly  mur 
dered!  We  must  revenge  their  death!" 

In  a  little  while  we  discovered  the  whole 
army  coming  towards  us  in  full  gallop!  We 
were  now  confident  that  our  first  party  had 
been  killed!  I  immediately  placed  my  men  in 
front  of  some  bushes,  that  we  might  have  the 
first  fire,  when  they  approached  close  enough. 
They  made  a  halt  some  distance  from  us.  I 
gave  another  yell,  and  ordered  my  brave  war 
riors  to  charge  upon  them  —  expecting  that  we 
would  all  be  killed !  They  did  charge !  Every 
man  rushed  and  fired,  and  the  enemy  retreated! 
in  the  utmost  confusion  and  consternation, 
before  my  little,  but  brave  band  of  warriors! 

After  pursuing  the  enemy  some  distance,  I 
found  it  useless  to  follow  them,  as  they  rode 
so  fast,  and  returned  to  my  encampment  with 
a  few  of  my  braves,  (about  twenty -five  having 
gone  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy.)  I  lighted  my 
pipe,  and  sat  down  to  thank  the  Great  Spirit 
for  what  we  had  done.  I  had  not  been  long 
140 


3ltfe  of 


meditating,  when  two  of  the  three  young  men 
I  had'sent  with  the  flag  to  meet  the  American 
war  chief,  entered!  My  astonishment  was  not 
greater  than  my  joy  to  see  them  living  and 
well.  I  eagerly  listened  to  their  story,  which 
was  as  follows : 

"When  we  arrived  near  to  the  encampment 
of  the  whites,  a  number  of  them  rushed  out 
to  meet  us,  bringing  their  guns  with  them. 
They  took  us  into  their  camp,  where  an  Amer 
ican,  who  spoke  the  Sac  Ian- [120]  guage  a 
little,  told  us  that  his  chief  wanted  to  know 
how  we  were  —  where  we  were  going — where 
our  camp  was — and  where  Black  Hawk  was? 
We  told  him  that  we  had  come  to  see  his  chief; 
that  our  chief  had  directed  us  to  conduct  him 
to  our  camp,  in  case  he  had  not  encamped; 
and,  in  that  event,  to  tell  him,  that  he  [Black 
Hawk]  would  come  to  see  him;  he  wished  to 
hold  a  council  with  him,  as  he  had  given  up 
all  intention  of  going  to  war. 

"At  the  conclusion  of  this  talk,  a  party  of 
white  men  came  in,  on  horseback.  We  saw 
by  their  countenances  that  something  had  hap 
pened.  A  general  tumult  arose.  They  looked 
at  us  with  indignation  —  talked  among  them 
selves  for  a  moment  —  when  several  cocked 
their  guns — in  a  second,  they  fired  at  us  in  the 
crowd;  our  companion  fell  dead!  We  rushed 
through  the  crowd  and  made  our  escape.  We 
remained  in  ambush  but  a  short  time,  before 
we  heard  yelling,  like  Indians  running  an 
141 


3life  of  S&lacft  i^atofc 


enemy.  In  a  little  while  we  saw  some  of  the 
whites  in  full  speed.  One  of  them  carne  near 
us.  I  threw  my  tomahawk,  and  struck  him 
on  the  head,  which  brought  him  to  the  ground! 
I  ran  to  him,  and  with  his  own  knife,  took  off 
his  scalp!  I  took  his  gun,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  took  my  friend  here  behind  me.  We 
turned  to  follow  our  braves,  who  were  running 
the  enemy,  and  had  not  gone  far  before  we 
overtook  a  white  man,  whose  horse  had  mired 
in  a  swamp!  My  friend  alighted,  and  toma 
hawked  the  man,  who  was  apparently  fast 
under  his  horse!  He  [121]  took  his  scalp, 
horse,  and  gun/  By  this  time  our  party  was 
some  distance  ahead.  We  followed  on,  and 
saw  several  white  men  lying  dead  in  the  way. 
After  riding  about  six  miles,  we  met  our  party 
returning.  We  asked  them  how  many  of  our 
men  had  been  killed  ?  They  said  none,  after  the 
Americans  retreated.  We  inquired  then,  how 
many  whites  had  been  killed  ?  They  replied, 
that  they  did  not  know;  but  said  we  will  soon 
ascertain,  as  we  must  scalp  them  as  we  go 
back.  On  our  return,  we  found  ten  men,  be 
sides  the  two  we  had  killed  before  we  joined 
our  friends.  Seeing  that  they  did  not  yet 
recognize  us,  it  being  dark,  we  again  asked, 
how  many  of  our  braves  had  been  killed? 
They  said  five!  We  asked,  who  they  were  ? 
They  replied  that  the  first  party  of  three,  who 
went  out  to  meet  the  American  war  chief,  had 
all  been  taken  prisoners,  and  killed  in  the  en- 
142 


ffiife  of  SMacft 


campment;  and  that  out  of  a  party  of  five, 
who  followed  to  see  the  meeting  of  the  first 
party  and  the  whites,  two  had  been  killed! 
We  were  now  certain  that  they  did  not  recog 
nize  us  —  nor  did  we  tell  them  who  we  were 
until  we  arrived  at  our  camp!  The  news  of 
our  death  had  reached  it  some  time  before, 
and  all  were  surprised  to  see  us  again." 

The  next  morning  I  told  the  crier  of  my 
village  to  give  notice  that  we  must  go  and  bury 
our  dead.  In  a  little  while  all  were  ready.  A 
small  deputation  was  sent  for  our  absent  war 
riors,  and  the  remainder  started.  We  first 
disposed  of  our  dead,  and  then  commenced 
[122]  an  examination,  in  the  enemy's  deserted 
encampment,  for  plunder.  We  found  arms, 
ammunition,  and  provisions,  all  which  we  were 
in  want  of — particularly  the  latter,  as  we  were 
entirely  without.  We  found,  also,  a  variety 
of  saddle-bags,  (which  I  distributed  among  my 
braves,)  and  a  small  quantity  of  whisky!  and 
some  little  barrels  that  had  contained  this  bad 
medicine;  but  they  were  empty!  I  was  sur 
prised  to  find  that  the  whites  carried  whisky 
with  them,  as  I  had  understood  that  all  the 
pale  faces  belonged  to  the  temperance  societies! 

The  enemy's  encampment  was  in  a  skirt  of 
woods  near  a  run,  about  half  a  day's  travel 
from  Dixon's  ferry.  We  attacked  them  in  the 
prairie,  with  a  few  bushes  between  us,  about 
sundown,  and  I  expected  that  my  whole  party 
would  be  killed!  I  never  was  so  much  sur- 
143 


Hife  of  25lach  I^atoft 


prised,  in  all  the  fighting  I  have  seen — know 
ing,  too,  that  the  Americans,  generally,  shoot 
well  —  as  I  was  to  see  this  army  of  several 
hundreds,  retreating!  WITHOUT  SHOW 
ING  FIGHT!!  and  passing  immediately 
through  their  encampment.  I  did  think  that 
they  intended  to  halt  here,  as  the  situation 
would  have  forbidden  attack  by  my  party,  if 
their  number  had  not  exceeded  half  mine!  as 
we  would  have  been  compelled  to  take  the 
open  prairie,  whilst  they  could  have  picked  trees 
to  shield  themselves  from  our  fire! 

Never  was  I  so  much  surprised  in  my  life, 
as  I  was  in  this  attack!  An  army  of  three  or 
four  hundred,  [123]  after  having  learned  that 
we  were  sueing  for  peace,  to  attempt  to  kill 
the  flag-bearers  that  had  gone,  unarmed,  to 
ask  for  a  meeting  of  the  war  chiefs  of  the  two 
contending  parties  to  hold  a  council,  that  I 
might  return  to  the  west  side  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  to  come  forward,  with  a  full  determina 
tion  to  demolish  the  few  braves  I  had  with  me, 
to  retreat  when  they  had  ten  to  one,  was  un 
accountable  to  me.  It  proved  a  different 
spirit  from  any  I  had  ever  before  seen  among 
the  pale  faces!  I  expected  to  see  them  fight 
as  the  Americans  did  with  the  British  during 
the  last  war!  —  but  they  had  no  such  braves 
among  them!35 

35 The  conflict  here  described,  known  as  the  battle 
of  Stillman's  Run  or  Stillman's  Defeat,  occurred 
May  14,  1832,  a  few  miles  southwest  of  the  mouth 
144 


3tife  of 


I  had  resolved  on  giving  up  the  war — and 
sent  a  flag  of  peace  to  the  American  war  chief 
—  expecting,  as  a  matter  of  right,  reason  and 
justice,  that  our  flag  would  be  respected,  (I 
have  always  seen  it  so  in  war  among  the 
whites,)  and  a  council  convened,  that  we  might 
explain  our  grievances,  having  been  driven 
from  our  village  the  year  before,  without  being 
permitted  to  gather  the  corn  and  provisions 
which  our  women  had  labored  hard  to  culti 
vate,  and  ask  for  permission  to  return — thereby 
giving  up  all  idea  of  going  to  war 'against  the 
whites. 

Yet,  instead  of  this  honorable  course  which 
I  have  always  practised  in  war,  I  was  forced 
into  WAR,  with  about  five  hundred  warriors, 
to  contend  against  three  or  four  thousand! 

The  supplies  that  Ne-a-pope  and  the  prophet 
told  us  about,  and  the  reinforcements  we  were 
to  have,  [  124]  were  never  more  heard  of;  (and 
it  is  but  justice  to  our  British  Father  to  say, 
were  never  promised — his  chief  having  sent 
word  in  lieu  of  the  lies  that  were  brought  to  me 

''FOR  US  TO  REMAIN  AT  PEACE, 
AS  WE  COULD  ACCOMPLISH  NOTH 
ING  BUT  OUR  OWN  RUIN  BY  GOING 
TO  WAR:'} 

What  was  now  to  be  done  ?  It  was  worse 
than  folly  to  turn  back  and  meet  an  enemy 

of  Sycamore  Creek,  in  Ogle  County,  Illinois.  Black 
Hawk's  description  of  the  disgraceful  affair  is  sub 
stantially  correct. 


fe  of  2Macft  l^atoft 


where  the  odds  were  so  much  against  us  — 
and  thereby  sacrifice  ourselves,  our  wives  and 
children,  to  the  fury  of  an  enemy  who  had 
murdered  some  of  our  brave  and  unarmed 
warriors,  when  they  were  on  a  mission  to  sue 
for  peace  ! 

Having  returned  to  our  encampment,  and 
found  that  all  our  young  men  had  come  in,  I 
sent  out  spies,  to  watch  the  movement  of  the 
army,  and  commenced  moving  up  Kish-wa-co- 
kee  with  the  balance  of  my  people.  I  did  not 
know  where  to  go  to  find  a  place  of  safety  for 
my  women  and  children,  but  expected  to  find 
a  good  harbor  about  the  head  of  Rock  river. 
I  concluded  to  go  there  —  and  thought  my  best 
route  would  be  to  go  round  the  head  of  Kish- 
wa-co-kee,  so  that  the  Americans  would  have 
some  difficulty,  if  they  attempted  to  follow  us. 

On  arriving  at  the  head  of  Kish-wa-co-kee, 
I  was  met  by  a  party  of  Winnebagoes,  who 
seemed  to  rejoice  at  our  success.  They  said 
they  had  come  to  offer  their  services,  and  were 
anxious  to  join  us.  I  asked  them  if  they  knew 
where  there  was  a  safe  [125]  place  for  my 
women  and  children.  They  told  me  that  they 
would  send  two  old  men  with  us  to  guide  us  to 
a  good  safe  place. 

I  arranged  war  parties  to  send  out  in  differ 
ent  directions,  before  I  proceeded  further. 
The  Winnebagoes  went  alone.  The  war  par 
ties  having  all  been  fitted  out  and  started,  we 
commenced  moving  to  the  Four  Lakes,  the 
146 


ttife  of 


place  where  our  guides  were  to  conduct  us. 
We  had  not  gone  far,  before  six  Winnebagoes 
came  in  with  one  scalp!  They  said  they  had 
killed  a  man  at  a  grove,  on  the  road  from 
Dixon's  to  the  lead  mines.36  Four  days  after, 
the  party  of  Winnebagoes  who  had  gone  out 
from  the  head  of  Kish-wa-co-kee,  overtook  us, 
and  told  me  that  they  had  killed  four  men,  and 
taken  their  scalps;  and  that  one  of  them  was 
Ke-o-kuck's  father,  (the  agent).37  They  pro 
posed  to  have  a  dance  over  their  scalps!  I 
told  them  that  I  could  have  no  dancing  in  my 
camp,  in  consequence  of  my  having  lost  three 
young  braves;  but  they  might  dance  in  their 
own  camp — which  they  did. 

Two  days  after,  we  arrived  in  safety  at  the 
place  where  the  Winnebagoes  had  directed  us. 
In  a  few  days  a  great  number  of  our  warriors 
came  in.  I  called  them  all  around  me,  and 
addressed  them.  I  told  them,  "Now  is  the 
time,  if  any  of  you  wish  to  come  into  distinc 
tion,  and  be  honored  with  the  medicine  bag! 
Now  is  the  time  to  show  your  courage  and 
bravery,  and  avenge  the  murder  of  our  three 
braves!"  [126]  Several  small  parties  went 

36This  was  William  Durley,  killed  near  Polo,  Illi 
nois,  May  19,  1832.  For  an  account  of  the  affair 
see  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  142. 

37 Felix  St.  Vrain,  successor  of  Thomas  Forsyth 
in  charge  of  the  Indian  agency  at  Rock  Island.  On 
the  massacre  of  St.  Vrain  and  his  companions  see 
Stevens,  op,  cit.,  169-70. 

147 


Jlife  of  SWatfe 


out,  and  returned  again  in  a  few  days,  with 
success  —  bringing  in  provision  for  our  people. 
In  the  meantime,  some  spies  came  in,  and  re 
ported  that  the  army  had  fallen  back  to  Dixon's 
ferry;  and  others  brought  news  that  the  horse 
men  had  broken  up  their  camp,  disbanded,  and 
returned  home. 

Finding  that  all  was  safe,  I  made  a  dog 
feast,  preparatory  to  leaving  my  camp  with  a 
large  party,  ( as  the  enemy  were  stationed  so 
far  off.)  Before  my  braves  commenced  feast 
ing,  I  took  my  medicine  bags,  and  addressed 
them  in  the  following  language : 

"  Br&ves  and  Warriors: — These  are  the 
medicine  bags  of  our  forefather,  Muk-a-ta- 
quet,  who  was  the  father  of  the  Sac  nation. 
They  were  handed  down  to  the  great  war  chief 
of  our  nation,  Na-na-ma-kee,  who  has  been  at 
war  with  all  the  nations  of  the  lakes  and  all  the 
nations  of  the  plains,  and  have  never  yet  been 
disgraced!  I  expect  you  all  to  protect  them!" 

After  the  ceremony  was  over,  and  our  feast 
ing  done,  I  started  with  about  two  hundred 
warriors,  following  my  great  medicine  bags. 
I  directed  my  course  towards  sunset,  and 
dreamed,  the  second  night  after  we  started, 
that  there  was  a  great  feast  for  us  after 
one  day's  travel!  I  told  my  warriors  my 
dream  in  the  morning,  and  we  all  started  for 
Mos-co-ho-co-y-nak,  [Apple  river.]  When 
we  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  a  fort  the  white 
people  had  built  [  127]  there  we  saw  four  men 
148 


life  of  OTacft 


on  horseback.  One  of  my  braves  fired  and 
wounded  a  man,  when  the  others  set  up  a  yell, 
as  if  a  large  force  were  near  and  ready  to  come 
against  us.  We  concealed  ourselves,  and  re 
mained  in  this  position  for  some  time,  watching 
to  see  the  enemy  approach  —  but  none  came. 
The  four  men,  in  the  meantime,  ran  to  the 
fort  and  gave  the  alarm.  We  followed  them, 
and  attacked  their  fort! 3S  One  of  their  braves, 
who  seemed  more  valiant  than  the  rest,  raised 
his  head  above  the  picketing  to  fire  at  us,  when 
one  of  my  braves,  with  a  well  directed  shot, 
put  an  end  to  his  bravery!  Finding  that  these 
people  could  not  all  be  killed,  without  setting 
fire  to  their  houses  and  fort,  I  thought  it  more 
prudent  to  be  content  with  what  flour,  pro 
visions,  cattle  and  horses  we  could  find,  than 
to  set  fire  to  their  buildings,  as  the  light  would 
be  seen  at  a  distance,  and  the  army  might 
suppose  that  we  were  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  come  upon  us  with  a  force  too  strong. 
Accordingly,  we  opened  a  house  and  filled  our 
bags  with  flour  and  provisions  —  took  several 
horses,  and  drove  off  some  of  their  cattle. 

We  started  in  a  direction  towards  sunrise. 
After  marching  a  considerable  time,  I  discov 
ered  some  white  men  coming  towards  us.  I 
told  my  braves  that  we  would  get  into  the 

38  Apple  River  Fort  was  about  fourteen  miles  east 
of  Galena,  Illinois.     Black  Hawk's  futile  attack  upon 
it  occurred  June  24,  1832.    An  interesting  account 
of  the  attack  is  given  by  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  185-87. 
149 


Slife  of  2B»Iacfc 


woods  and  kill  them  when  they  approached. 
We  concealed  ourselves  until  they  came  near 
enough,  and  then  commenced  yelling  and  firing, 
and  made  a  rush  upon  them.39  About  this 
time,  their  chief,  with  a  party  of  men,  rushed 
up  to  rescue  the  [  128]  men  we  had  fired  upon. 
In  a  little  while  they  commenced  retreating, 
and  left  their  chief  and  a  few  braves,  who 
seemed  willing  and  anxious  to  fight!  They 
acted  like  braves,  but  were  forced  to  give  way 
when  I  rushed  upon  them  with  my  braves. 
In  a  short  time  the  chief  returned  with  a  larger 
party.  He  seemed  determined  to  fight,  and 
anxious  for  a  battle!  When  he  came  near 
enough,  I  raised  the  yell  and  firing,  commenced 
from  both  sides.  The  chief  (who  seemed  to 
be  a  small  man)  addressed  his  warriors  in  a 
loud  voice;  but  they  soon  retreated,  leaving 
him  and  a  few  braves  on  the  battle-field.  A 
great  number  of  my  warriors  pursued  the  re 
treating  party,  and  killed  a  number  of  their 
horses  as  they  ran.  The  chief  and  his  few 
braves  were  unwilling  to  leave  the  field.  I 
ordered  my  braves  to  rush  upon  them,  and  had 
the  mortification  of  seeing  two  of  my  chiefs 
killed,  before  the  enemy  retreated. 

39 This  was  the  attack  made  upon  Major  Dement's 
company  at  Kellogg' s  Grove,  on  June  25.  The 
"chief"  who  excited  the  admiration  of  Black  Hawk 
was,  of  course,  Major  Dement.  His  conduct  on 
this  occasion  stands  in  brilliant  contrast  with  that  of 
Stillman  and  others  of  the  Illinois  militia  under 
similar  circumstances. 

ISO 


3life  of  SMacft  J^atoft 


This  young  chief  deserves  great  praise  for 
his  courage  and  bravery;  but  fortunately  for 
us,  his  army  was  not  all  composed  of  such 
brave  men! 

During  this  attack,  we  killed  several  men 
and  about  forty  horses,  and  lost  two  young 
chiefs  and  seven  warriors.  My  braves  were 
anxious  to  pursue  them  to  the  fort,  attack,  and 
burn  it.  But  I  told  them  that  it  was  useless 
to  waste  our  powder,  as  there  was  no  possible 
chance  of  success  if  we  did  attack  them — and 
that,  as  we  had  run  the  bear  into  his  hole,  we 
would  there  leave  him,  and  return  to  our  camp. 

On  arriving  at  our  encampment  we  found 
that  sev-[i29]  eral  parties  of  our  spies  had  re 
turned,  bringing  intelligence  that  the  army  had 
commenced  moving.  Another  party  of  five 
came  in  and  said  they  had  been  pursued  for 
several  hours,  and  were  attacked  by  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  whites  in  the  woods;  that  the 
whites  rushed  in  upon  them,  as  they  lay  con 
cealed,  and  received  their  fire  without  seeing 
them.  They  immediately  retreated,  whilst  we 
reloaded.  They  entered  the  thicket  again,  and 
as  soon  as  they  came  near  enough,  we  fired! 
Again  they  retreated,  and  again  they  rushed 
into  the  thicket  and  fired!  We  returned  their 
fire,  and  a  skirmish  ensued  between  two  of 
their  men  and  one  of  ours,  who  was  killed  by 
having  his  throat  cut !  This  was  the  only  man 
we  lost.  The  enemy  having  had  three  killed, 
they  again  retreated. 


of  2Macfc 


Another  party  of  three  Sacs  had  come  in, 
and  brought  in  two  young  squaws,  whom  they 
had  given  to  the  Winnebagoes,  to  take  to  the 
whites.  They  said  they  had  joined  a  party  of 
Pottowattomies,  and  went  with  them  as  a  war 
party,  against  the  settlers  on  the  Illinois.40 

The  leader  of  this  party,  a  Pottowattomie, 
had  been  severely  whipped  by  this  settler, 
some  time  before,  and  was  anxious  to  avenge 
the  insult  and  injury.  While  the  party  was 
preparing  to  start,  a  young  Pottowattomie 
went  to  the  settler's  house,  and  told  him  to 
leave  it  —  that  a  war  party  was  coming  to 
murder  them.  They  started,  but  soon  returned 
again,  as  it  appeared  that  they  were  all  there 
when  the  war  party  arrived!  [130]  The  Pot 
towattomies  killed  the  whole  family,  except 
two  young  squaws,  whom  the  Sacs  took  up  on 
their  horses,  and  carried  off  to  save  their  lives. 
—They  were  brought  to  our  encampment,  and 
a  messenger  sent  to  the  Winnebagoes,  as  they 
were  friendly  on  both  sides,  to  come  and  get 
them,  and  carry  them  to  the  whites.  If  these 
young  men  belonging  to  my  band,  had  not 
gone  with  the  Pottowattomies,  the  two  young 
squaws  would  have  shared  the  same  fate  as 
their  friends. 

40  The  allusion  in  this  paragraph  is  to  the  bloody 
Indian  Creek  massacre  a  dozen  miles  north  of  Ottawa, 
Illinois,  May  20,  1832.  The  "young  squaws"  were 
Rachael  and  Sylvia  Hall,  the  only  survivors  of  the 
massacre.  For  their  story  see  Stevens,  op.cit.,  146  ff. 
152 


ft  of  SSlacfc 


During  our  encampment  at  the  Four  Lakes, 
we  were  hard  put  to  obtain  enough  to  eat  to 
support  nature.  Situate  in  a  swampy,  marshy 
country,  (which  had  been  selected  in  conse 
quence  of  the  great  difficulty  required  to  gain 
access  thereto,)  there  was  but  little  game  of 
any  sort  to  be  found  —  and  fish  were  equally 
scarce.  The  great  distance  to  any  settlement, 
and  the  impossibility  of  bringing  supplies  there 
from,  if  any  could  have  been  obtained,  deterred 
our  young  men  from  making  further  attempts. 
We  were  forced  to  dig  roots  and  bark  trees,  to 
obtain  something  to  satisfy  hunger  and  keep 
us  alive!  Several  of  our  old  people  became 
so  much  reduced,  as  actually  to  die  with  hun 
ger!  And,  finding  that  the  army  had  com 
menced  moving,  and  fearing  that  they  might 
come  upon  and  surround  our  encampment,  I 
concluded  to  remove  my  women  and  children 
across  the  Mississippi,  that  they  might  return 
to  the  Sac  nation  again.  Accordingly,  on  the 
next  day,  we  commenced  moving,  with  [131] 
five  Winnebagoes  acting  as  our  guides,  intend 
ing  to  descend  the  Ouisconsin. 

Ne-a-pope,  with  a  party  of  twenty,  remained 
in  our  rear,  to  watch  for  the  enemy,  whilst  we 
were  proceeding  to  the  Ouisconsin,  with  our 
women  and  children.  We  arrived,  and  had 
commenced  crossing  them  to  an  island,  when 
we  discovered  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  com 
ing  towards  us.  We  were  now  compelled  to 
fight,  or  sacrifice  our  wives  and  children  to 
153 


3life  of  25Iacfe 


the  fury  of  the  whites !  I  met  them  with  fifty 
warriors,  (having  left  the  balance  to  assist 
our  women  and  children  in  crossing,)  about  a 
mile  from  the  river,  when  an  attack  immedi 
ately  commenced.  I  was  mounted  on  a  fine 
horse,  and  was  pleased  to  see  my  warriors  so 
brave.  I  addressed  them  in  a  loud  voice, 
telling  them  to  stand  their  ground,  and  never 
yield  it  to  the  enemy.  At  this  time  I  was  on 
the  rise  of  a  hill,  where  I  wished  to  form  my 
warriors,  that  we  might  have  some  advantage 
over  the  whites.  But  the  enemy  succeeded  in 
gaining  this  point,  which  compelled  us  to  fall 
back  into  a  deep  ravine,  from  which  we  con 
tinued  firing  at  them  and  they  at  us,  until  it 
began  to  grow  dark.  My  horse  having  been 
wounded  twice  during  this  engagement,  and 
fearing  from  his  loss  of  blood,  that  he  would 
soon  give  out  —  and  finding  that  the  enemy 
would  not  come  near  enough  to  receive  our 
fire,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening — and  knowing 
that  our  women  and  children  had  had  sufficient 
time  to  reach  the  island  in  the  Ouisconsin,  I 
ordered  my  warriors  to  return,  in  differ-[i32] 
ent  routes,  and  meet  me  at  the  Ouisconsin — 
and  were  astonished  to  find  that  the  enemy 
were  not  disposed  to  pursue  us. 

In  this  skirmish,  with  fifty  braves,  I  defended 
and  accomplished  my  passage  over  the  Ouis 
consin,  with  a  loss  of  only  six  men;  though 
opposed  by  a  host  of  mounted  militia.  I  would 
not  have  fought  there,  but  to  gain  time  for  my 

154 


tfe  of  25tatft 


women  and  children  to  cross  to  an  island.  A 
warrior  will  duly  appreciate  the  embarrass 
ments  I  labored  under — and  whatever  may  be 
the  sentiments  of  the  white  people,  in  relation 
to  this  battle,  my  nation,  though  fallen,  will 
award  to  me  the  reputation  of  a  great  brave, 
in  conducting  it.41 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  could  not  be  ascer 
tained  by  our  party;  but  I  am  of  opinion  that 
it  was  much  greater,  in  proportion,  than  mine. 
We  returned  to  the  Ouisconsin,  and  crossed 
over  to  our  people. 

Here  some  of  my  people  left  me,  and  de 
scended  the  Ouisconsin,  hoping  to  escape  to 
the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  that  they 
might  return  home.  I  had  no  objection  to 
their  leaving  me,  as  my  people  were  all  in  a 
desperate  condition  —  being  worn  out  with 
travelling,  and  starving  from  hunger.  Our 
only  hope  to  save  ourselves  was  to  get  across 
the  Mississippi.  But  few  of  this  party  escaped. 
Unfortunately  for  them,  a  party  of  soldiers 
from  Prairie  du  Chien,  was  stationed  on  the 
Ouisconsin,  a  short  distance  from  its  mouth, 

41  This  fight,  known  as  the  Battle  of  Wisconsin 
Heights,  took  place  June  21,  about  twenty-five  miles 
northwest  of  Madison,  Wisconsin.  Except  on  the 
point  of  the  respective  losses,  white  accounts  of  the 
battle  do  not  differ  materially  from  Black  Hawk's 
story;  and  opinion  may  well  accord  the  recognition 
which  Black  Hawk  here  claims,  of  having  conducted 
a  brave  and  clever  action  with  the  odds  heavily 
against  him. 

155 


3tife  of  25Iatft 


who  fired  upon  our  distressed  people.  Some 
were  killed,  others  drowned,  and  several  taken 
pris-[i33]  oners,  and  the  balance  escaped  to 
the  woods  and  perished  with  hunger.42  Among 
this  party  were  a  great  many  women  and  chil 
dren. 

I  was  astonished  to  find  that  Ne-a-pope  and 
his  party  of  spies  had  not  yet  come  in — they 
having  been  left  in  my  rear  to  bring  the  news, 
if  the  enemy  were  discovered.  It  appeared, 
however,  that  the  whites  had  come  in  a  differ 
ent  direction,  and  intercepted  our  trail  but  a 
short  distance  from  the  place  where  we  first 
saw  them  —  leaving  our  spies  considerably  in 
the  rear.  Ne-a-pope,  and  one  other,  retired 
to  the  Winnebago  village,  and  there  remained 
during  the  war!  The  balance  of  his  party, 
being  brave  men,  and  considering  our  interest 
as  their  own,  returned,  and  joined  our  ranks. 

Myself  and  band  having  no  means  to  descend 
the  Ouisconsin,  I  started,  over  a  rugged  coun 
try,  to  go  to  the  Mississippi,  intending  to  cross 
it,  and  return  to  my  nation.  Many  of  our 
people  were  compelled  to  go  on  foot,  for  want 
of  horses,  which,  in  consequence  of  their  hav- 

42  The  destruction  of  this  party  of  fugitive  non- 
combatants,  composed  almost  wholly  of  old  men, 
women,  and  children,  constitutes  one  of  the  least 
creditable  aspects  of  the  war  from  the  white  stand 
point.  After  stating  the  expectations  with  which 
the  party  set  out,  Thwaites  dryly  remarks,  "But 
too  much  faith  was  placed  in  the  humanity  of  the 
Americans." 

156 


Hife  of 


ing  had  nothing  to  eat  for  a  long  time,  caused 
our  march  to  be  very  slow.  At  length  we 
arrived  at  the  Mississippi,43  having  lost  some 
of  our  old  men  and  little  children,  who  perished 
on  the  way  with  hunger. 

We  had  been  here  but  a  little  while,  before 
we  saw  a  steam  boat  (the  "Warrior,")  coming. 
I  told  my  braves  not  to  shoot,  as  I  intended 
going  on  board,  so  that  we  might  save  our 
women  and  children.  I  knew  the  captain 
[THROCKMORTON,]  and  was  determined 
to  [  J34]  give  myself  up  to  him.  I  then  sent 
for  my  white  flag.  While  the  messenger  was 
gone,  I  took  a  small  piece  of  white  cotton,  and 
put  it  on  a  pole,  and  called  to  the  captain  of 
the  boat,  and  told  him  to  send  his  little  canoe 
ashore,  and  let  me  come  on  board.  The  people 
on  board  asked  whether  we  were  Sacs  or  Winne- 
bagoes.  I  told  a  Winnebago  to  tell  them  that 
we  were  Sacs,  and  wanted  to  give  ourselves 
up !  A  Winnebago  on  the  boat  called  to  us 
"to  run  and  hide,  that  the  whites  were  going  to 
shoot!"  About  this  time  one  of  my  braves 
had  jumped  into  the  river,  bearing  a  white  flag 
to  the  boat  —  when  another  sprang  in  after  him 
and  brought  him  to  shore.  The  firing  then 
commenced  from  the  boat,  which  was  returned 

43  At  a  point  about  two  miles  below  the  mouth  of 
Bad  Axe  River,  and  almost  directly  opposite  the 
northern  boundary  of  Iowa.  Here  was  shortly 
enacted  the  pitiful  tragedy  known  as  the  battle  of 
Bad  Axe. 

157 


3tifc  of  23Iach 


by  my  braves,  and  continued  for  some  time. 
Very  few  of  my  people  were  hurt  after  the 
first  fire,  having  succeeded  in  getting  behind 
old  logs  and  trees,  which  shielded  them  from 
the  enemy's  fire. 

The  Winnebago,  on  the  steam  boat  must 
either  have  misunderstood  what  was  told,  or 
did  not  tell  it  to  the  captain  correctly ;  because 
I  am  confident  that  he  would  not  have  fired 
upon  us,  if  he  had  known  my  wishes.  I  have 
always  considered  him  a  good  man,  and  too 
great  a  brave  to  fire  upon  an  enemy  when 
sueing  for  quarters. 

After  the  boat  left  us,  I  told  my  people  to 
cross,  if  they  could,  and  wished :  that  I  intended 
going  into  the  Chippewa  country.  Some  com 
menced  crossing,  and  such  as  had  determined 
to  follow  them,  remained — [135]  only  three 
lodges  going  with  me.  Next  morning,  at  day 
break,  a  young  man  overtook  me,  and  said 
that  all  my  party  had  determined  to  cross  the 
Mississippi — that  a  number  had  already  got 
over  safe,  and  that  he  had  heard  the  white 
army  last  night  within  a  few  miles  of  them. 
I  now  began  to  fear  that  the  whites  would 
come  up  with  my  people,  and  kill  them,  before 
they  could  get  across.  I  had  determined  to 
go  and  join  the  Chippewas ;  but  reflecting  that 
by  this  I  could  only  save  myself,  I  concluded 
to  return,  and  die  with  my  people,  if  the  Great 
Spirit  would  not  give  us  another  victory! 
During  our  stay  in  the  thicket,  a  party  of 
158 


Eifc  of  25facft 


whites  came  close  by  us,  but  passed  on  with 
out  discovering  us. 

Early  in  the  morning  a  party  of  whites,  being 
in  advance  of  the  army,  came  upon  our  people, 
who  were  attempting  to  cross  the  Mississippi. 
They  tried  to  give  themselves  up  —  the  whites 
paid  no  attention  to  their  entreaties  —  but  com 
menced  slaughtering  them!  In  a  little  while 
the  whole  army  arrived.  Our  braves,  but  few 
in  number,  finding  that  the  enemy  paid  no 
regard  to  age  or  sex,  and  seeing  that  they 
were  murdering  helpless  women  and  little  chil 
dren,  determined  to  fight  until  they  were  killed! 
As  many  women  as  could,  commenced  swim 
ming  the  Mississippi,  with  their  children  on 
their  backs.  A  number  of  them  were  drowned, 
and  some  shot,  before  they  could  reach  the 
opposite  shore.44 

One  of  my  braves,  who  gave  me  this  infor 
mation,  [136]  piled  up  some  saddles  before 
him,  (when  the  fight  commenced,)  to  shield 
himself  from  the  enemy's  fire,  and  killed  three 
white  men !  But  seeing  that  the  whites  were 
coming  too  close  to  him,  he  crawled  to  the 

44 "Some  of  the  fugitives  succeeded  in  swimming 
to  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  but  many  were 
drowned  on  the  way,  or  coolly  picked  ofif  by  sharp 
shooters,  who  exercised  no  more  mercy  towards 
squaws  and  children  than  they  did  towards  braves — 
treating  them  all  as  though  they  were  rats  instead  of 
human  beings."  Thwaites,  "Story  of  the  Black 
Hawk  War,"  in  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections, 
XII,  260. 

159 


Jlife  of  25lacft  i^atofe 


bank  of  the  river,  without  being  perceived,  and 
hid  himself  under  it,  until  the  enemy  retired. 
He  then  came  to  me  and  told  me  what  had 
been  done.  After  hearing  this  sorrowful  news, 
I  started,  with  my  little  party,  to  the  Winne- 
bago  village  at  Prairie  La  Cross.45  On  my 
arrival  there,  I  entered  the  lodge  of  one  of  the 
chiefs,  and  told  him  that  I  wished  him  to  go 
with  me  to  his  father — that  I  intended  to  give 
myself  up  to  the  American  war  chief,  and  die, 
if  the  Great  Spirit  saw  proper!  He  said  he 
would  go  with  me.  I  then  took  my  medicine 
bag,  and  addressed  the  chief.  I  told  him  that 
it  was  "the  soul  of  the  Sac  nation — that  it 
never  had  been  dishonored  in  any  battle  — 
take  it,  it  is  my  life  —  dearer  than  life  —  and 
give  it  to  the  American  chief!"  He  said  he 
would  keep  it,  and  take  care  of  it,  and  if  I  was 
suffered  to  live,  he  would  send  it  to  me. 

During  my  stay  at  the  village,  the  squaws 
made  me  a  white  dress  of  deer  skin.  I  then 
started,  with  several  Winnebagoes,  and  went 
to  their  agent,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  gave 
myself  up. 

On  my  arrival  there,  I  found  to  my  sorrow, 
that  a  large  body  of  Sioux  had  pursued,  and 
killed,  a  number  of  our  women  and  children, 
who  had  got  safely  across  the  Mississippi. 
The  whites  ought  not  to  have  permitted  such 

45  This  was  on  the  site  of  the  modern   city  of 
La  Crosse.     On  the  capture  of  Black  Hawk  see 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,   VIII,  316. 
160 


life  of  2Macft 


conduct  —  and  none  but  cowards  would  ever 
[137]  have  been  guilty  of  such  cruelty — which 
has  always  been  practiced  on  our  nation  by 
the  Sioux. 

The  massacre,  which  terminated  the  war, 
lasted  about  two  hours.  Our  loss  in  killed, 
was  about  sixty,  besides  a  number  that  were 
drowned.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  could  not 
be  ascertained  by  my  braves,  exactly;  but  they 
think  that  they  killed  about  sixteen,  during  the 
action.46 

I  was  now  given  up  by  the  agent  to  the 
commanding  officer  at  fort  Crawford,  ( the 
White  Beaver  having  gone  down  the  river.) 
We  remained  here  a  short  time,  and  then 
started  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  in  a  steam  boat, 
under  the  charge  of  a  young  war  chief,  [  Lieut. 
Jefferson  Davis]  who  treated  us  all  with  much 
kindness.  He  is  a  good  and  brave  young 
chief,  with  whose  conduct  I  was  much  pleased.47 

46  Black  Hawk's  statement  of  the  white  loss  is  quite 
accurate,  but  he  greatly  understates  the  Indian  loss 
in  the  battle  and  the  succeeding  massacre.  For  the 
battle  of  Bad  Axe,  Thwaites  gives  the  white  casual 
ties  as  seventeen  killed  and  twelve  wounded;  while 
of  the  Indians  150  were  killed  outright  and  as  many 
more  were  drowned.  About  300  safely  crossed  the 
Mississippi  before  and  during  the  battle,  one  half  of 
whom  were  slain  by  the  Sioux  band  set  on  them  by 
General  Atkinson's  orders  in  the  massacre  at  which 
Black  Hawk  expresses  his  indignation. 

47 Apparently  the  feeling  was  reciprocated.  A 
campaign  life  of  Davis  published  in  1851  at  the  time 
of  his  candidacy  for  the  governorship  of  Mississippi 
161 


ttifc  of  2Macfc  l^atoft 


On  our  way  down,  we  called  at  Galena,  and 
remained  a  short  time.  The  people  crowded 
to  the  boat  to  see  us ;  but  the  war  chief  would 
not  permit  them  to  enter  the  apartment  where 
we  were  —  knowing,  from  what  his  own  feel 
ings  would  have  been,  if  he  had  been  placed 
in  a  similar  situation,  that  we  did  not  wish  to 
have  a  gaping  crowd  around  us. 

We  passed  Rock  Island,  without  stopping. 
The  great  war  chief,  [Gen.  Scott,]  who  was 
then  at  fort  Armstrong,  came  out  in  a  small 
boat  to  see  us ;  but  the  captain  of  the  steam 
boat  would  not  allow  any  body  from  the  fort 
to  come  on  board  of  his  boat,  in  consequence 
of  the  cholera  raging  among  the  soldiers.48  I 
[138]  did  think  that  the  captain  ought  to  have 
permitted  the  war  chief  to  come  on  board  to 
see  me,  because  I  could  see  no  danger  to  be 
apprehended  by  it.  The  war  chief  looked  well, 
and  I  have  since  heard,  was  constantly  among 
his  soldiers,  who  were  sick  and  dying,  adminis 
tering  to  their  wants,  and  had  not  caught  the 
disease  from  them  —  and  I  thought  it  absurd 
to  think  that  any  of  the  people  on  the  steam 
boat  could  be  afraid  of  catching  the  disease 

states  that  "he  entirely  won  the  heart  of  the  savage 
chieftain,  and  before  they  reached  Jefferson  Barracks 
there  had  sprung  up  between  the  stern  red  warrior 
and  the  young  pale  face  a  warm  friendship  which 
only  terminated  with  the  life  of  Black  Hawk." 

48  For  an  account  of  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1832 
and    its    bearing    on    the    Black    Hawk    War,    see 
Quaife,  op.  «'/.,  chap.  XIV. 
162 


It  ife  of  S&Iarft 


from  a  well  man.  But  these  people  have  not 
got  bravery  like  war  chiefs,  who  never  fear 
any  thing ! 

On  our  way  down,  I  surveyed  the  country 
that  had  cost  us  so  much  trouble,  anxiety,  and 
blood,  and  that  now  caused  me  to  be  a  prisoner 
of  war.  I  reflected  upon  the  ingratitude  of 
the  whites,  when  I  saw  their  fine  houses,  rich 
harvests,  and  every  thing  desirable  around 
them;  and  recollected  that  all  this  land  had 
been  ours,  for  which  me  and  my  people  had 
never  received  a  dollar,  and  that  the  whites 
were  not  satisfied  until  they  took  our  village 
and  our  grave-yards  from  us,  and  removed  us 
across  the  Mississippi. 

On  our  arrival  at  Jefferson  barracks,  we  met 
the  great  war  chief,  [White  Beaver,]  who  had 
commanded  the  American  army  against  my 
little  band.  I  felt  the  humiliation  of  my  situ 
ation  :  a  little  while  before,  I  had  been  leader 
of  my  braves,  now  I  was  a  prisoner  of  war! 
but  had  surrendered  myself.  He  received  us 
kindly,  and  treated  us  well. 

We  were  now  confined  to  the  barracks,  and 
forced  [  139  ]  to  wear  the  ball  and  chain  !  This 
was  extremely  mortifying,  and  altogether  use 
less.  Was  the  White  Beaver  afraid  that  I 
would  break  out  of  his  barracks,  and  run  away? 
Or  was  he  ordered  to  inflict  this  punishment 
upon  me  ?  If  I  had  taken  him  prisoner  on  the 
field  of  battle,  I  would  not  have  wounded  his 
feelings  so  much,  by  such  treatment  —  knowing 
163 


life  of  2Macft  l^atoft 


that  a  brave  war  chief  would  prefer  death  to 
dishonor!  But  I  do  not  blame  the  White 
Beaver  for  the  course  he  pursued  —  as  it  is 
the  custom  among  white  soldiers,  and,  I  sup 
pose,  was  a  part  of  his  duty. 

The  time  dragged  heavily  and  gloomily  along 
throughout  the  winter,  although  the  White  Bea 
ver  done  every  thing  in  his  power  to  render 
us  comfortable.  Having  been  accustomed, 
throughout  a  long  life,  to  roam  the  forests  o'er 
—to  go  and  come  at  liberty — confinement,  and 
under  such  circumstances,  could  not  be  less 
than  torture! 

We  passed  away  the  time  making  pipes,  until 
spring,  when  we  were  visited  by  the  agent, 
trader,  and  interpreter,  from  Rock  Island, 
Ke-o-kuck,  and  several  chiefs  and  braves  of 
our  nation,  and  my  wife  and  daughter.  I  was 
rejoiced  to  see  the  two  latter,  and  spent  my 
time  very  agreeably  with  them  and  my  people, 
as  long  as  they  remained. 

The  trader,  presented  me  with  some  dried 
venison,  which  had  been  killed  and  cured  by 
some  of  my  friends.  This  was  a  valuable 
present;  and  although  he  had  given  me  many 
before,  none  ever  pleased  me  [140]  so  much. 
This  was  the  first  meat  I  had  eaten  for  a  long 
time,  that  reminded  me  of  the  former  pleas 
ures  of  my  own  wigwam,  which  had  always 
been  stored  with  plenty. 

Ke-o-kuck  and  his  chiefs,  during  their  stay 
at  the  barracks,  petitioned  our  Great  Father, 
164 


ffiife  of  3Miirk 


the  president,  to  release  us;  and  pledged  them 
selves  for  our  good  conduct.  I  now  began  to 
hope  that  I  would  soon  be  restored  to  liberty, 
and  the  enjoyment  of  my  family  and  friends; 
having  heard  that  Ke-o-kuck  stood  high  in  the 
estimation  of  our  Great  Father,  because  he 
did  not  join  me  in  the  war.  But  I  was  soon 
disappointed  in  my  hopes.  An  order  came 
from  our  Great  Father  to  the  White  Beaver, 
to  send  us  on  to  Washington. 

In  a  little  while  all  were  ready,  and  left 
Jefferson  barracks  on  board  of  a  steam  boat, 
under  charge  of  a  young  war  chief,  whom  the 
White  Beaver  sent  along  as  a  guide  to  Wash 
ington.  He  carried  with  him  an  interpreter 
and  one  soldier.  On  our  way  up  the  Ohio, 
we  passed  several  large  villages,  the  names  of 
which  were  explained  to  me.  The  first  is 
called  Louisville,  and  is  a  very  pretty  village, 
situate  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  river.  The 
next  is  Cincinnati,  which  stands  on  the  bank 
of  the  same  river.  This  is  a  large  and  beau 
tiful  village,  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  thriving 
condition.  The  people  gathered  on  the  bank 
as  we  passed,  in  great  crowds,  apparently 
anxious  to  see  us. 

On  our  arrival  at  Wheeling,  the  streets  and 
river's  banks  were  crowded  with  people,  who 
flocked  from  [141]  every  direction  to  see  us. 
While  we  remained  here,  many  called  upon  us, 
and  treated  us  with  kindness — no  one  offering 
to  molest  or  misuse  us.  This  village  is  not 
165 


ttife  of  2Macft 


so  large  as  either  of  those  before  mentioned, 
but  is  quite  a  pretty  village. 

We  left  the  steam  boat  here,  having  travelled 
a  long  distance  on  the  prettiest  river  (except 
our  Mississippi,)  that  I  ever  saw — and  took 
the  stage.  Being  unaccustomed  to  this  mode 
of  travelling,  we  soon  got  tired,  and  wished 
ourselves  seated  in  a  canoe  on  one  of  our  own 
rivers,  that  we  might  return  to  our  friends. 
We  had  travelled  but  a  short  distance,  before 
our  carriage  turned  over,  from  which  I  received 
a  slight  injury,  and  the  soldier  had  one  arm 
broken.  I  was  sorry  for  this  accident,  as  the 
young  man  had  behaved  well. 

We  had  a  rough  and  mountainous  country 
for  several  days,  but  had  a  good  trail  for  our 
carriage.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  what  labor 
and  pains  the  white  people  have  had  to  make 
this  road,  as  it  passes  over  an  immense  num 
ber  of  mountains,  which  are  generally  covered 
with  rocks  and  timber;  yet  it  has  been  made 
smooth,  and  easy  to  travel  upon.49 

Rough  and  mountainous  as  is  this  country, 
there  are  many  wigwams  and  small  villages 
standing  on  the  road  side.  I  could  see  nothing 
in  the  country  to  induce  the  people  to  live  in 
it ;  and  was  astonished  to  find  so  many  whites 
living  on  the  hills! 

49  This  was  the  famous  Cumberland  Road,  often 
popularly  known  as  the  "National  Road."  For  its 
history  see  Archer  B.  Hulbert,  The  Cumberland  Road, 
(Cleveland,  1904). 

166 


3tife  of 


I  have  often  thought  of  them  since  my  return 
to  my  own  people;  and  am  happy  to  think  that 
they  prefer  [142]  living  in  their  own  country, 
to  coming  out  to  ours,  and  driving  us  from  it, 
that  they  might  live  upon  and  enjoy  it  —  as 
many  of  the  whites  have  already  done.  I  think, 
with  them,  that  wherever  the  Great  Spirit 
places  his  people,  they  ought  to  be  satisfied  to 
remain,  and  thankful  for  what  He  has  given 
them;  and  not  drive  others  from  the  country 
He  has  given  them,  because  it  happens  to  be 
better  than  theirs!  This  is  contrary  to  our 
way  of  thinking;  and  from  my  intercourse 
with  the  whites,  I  have  learned  that  one  great 
principle  of  their  religion  is,  "to  do  unto 
others  as  you  wish  them  to  do  unto  you!" 
Those  people  in  the  mountains  seem  to  act 
upon  this  principle;  but  the  settlers  on  our 
frontiers  and  on  our  lands,  never  seem  to 
think  of  it,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  their  actions. 

The  first  village  of  importance  that  we 
came  to,  after  leaving  the  mountains,  is  called 
Hagerstown.  It  is  a  large  village  to  be  so  far 
from  a  river,  and  is  very  pretty.  The  people 
appear  to  live  well,  and  enjoy  themselves  much. 

We  passed  through  several  small  villages  on 
the  way  to  Fredericktown,  but  I  have  forgotten 
their  names.  This  last  is  a  large  and  beautiful 
village.  The  people  treated  us  well,  as  they 
did  at  all  other  villages  where  we  stopped. 

Here  we  came  to  another  road,  much  more 
wonderful  than  that  through  the  mountains. 
167 


ttife  of  SSlatft  f  atoft 


They  call  it  a  rail  road!  I  examined  it  care 
fully,  but  need  not  describe  it,  as  the  whites 
know  all  about  it.  It  is  the  [  143  ]  most  aston 
ishing  sight  I  ever  saw.  The  great  road  over 
the  mountains  will  bear  no  comparison  to  it  — 
although  it  has  given  the  white  people  much 
trouble  to  make.  I  was  surprised  to  see  so 
much  labor  and  money  expended  to  make  a 
good  road  for  easy  travelling.  I  prefer  riding 
horseback,  however,  to  any  other  way;  but 
suppose  that  these  people  would  not  have  gone 
to  so  much  trouble  and  expense  to  make  a 
road,  if  they  did  not  prefer  riding  in  their  new 
fashioned  carriages,  which  seem  to  run  with 
out  any  trouble.  They  certainly  deserve  great 
praise  for  their  industry. 

On  our  arrival  at  Washington,  we  called  to 
see  our  Great  Father,  the  president.50  He 
looks  as  if  he  had  seen  as  many  winters  as  I 
have,  and  seems  to  be  a  great  brave!  I  had 
very  little  talk  with  him,  as  he  appeared  to  be 
busy,  and  did  not  seem  to  be  much  disposed 
to  talk.  I  think  he  is  a  good  man;  and 
although  he  talked  but  little,  he  treated  us 
very  well.  His  wigwam  is  well  furnished  with 
every  thing  good  and  pretty,  and  is  very 
strongly  built. 

He  said  he  wished  to  know  the  cause  of  my 
gojng  to  war  against  his  white  children.  I 
thought  he  ought  to  have  known  this  before; 
and,  consequently,  said  but  little  to  him  about 

50  Andrew  Jackson. 

168 


Hife  of  SWacft 


it  —  as  I  expected  he  knew  as  well  as  I  could 
tell  him. 

He  said  he  wanted  us  to  go  to  fortress  Mon 
roe,  and  stay  awhile  with  the  war  chief  who 
commanded  it.  But,  having  been  so  long  from 
my  people,  I  told  him  [  144  ]  that  I  would  rather 
return  to  my  nation — that  Ke-o-kuck  had 
come  here  once  on  a  visit  to  see  him,  as  we 
had  done,  and  he  let  him  return  again,  as  soon 
as  he  wished ;  and  that  I  expected  to  be  treated 
in  the  same  way.  He  insisted,  however,  on 
our  going  to  fortress  Monroe ;  and  as  our  in 
terpreter  could  not  understand  enough  of  our 
language  to  interpret  a  speech,  I  concluded 
it  was  best  to  obey  our  Great  Father,  and  say 
nothing  contrary  to  his  wishes. 

During  our  stay  at  the  city,  we  were  called 
upon  by  many  of  the  people,  who  treated  us 
well,  particularly  the  squaws!  We  visited  the 
great  council  house  of  the  Americans — the 
place  where  they  keep  their  big  guns — and  all 
the  public  buildings,  and  then  started  to  for 
tress  Monroe.  The  war  chief  met  us,  on  our 
arrival,  and  shook  hands,  ahd  appeared  glad 
to  see  me.  He  treated  us  with  great  friend 
ship,  and  talked  to  me  frequently.  Previous 
to  our  leaving  this  fort,  he  gave  us  a  feast, 
and  gave  us  some  presents,  which  I  intend 
to  keep  for  his  sake.  He  is  a  very  good 
man,  and  a  great  brave!  I  was  sorry  to 
leave  him,  although  I  was  going  to  return  to 
my  people,  because  he  had  treated  me  like 
169 


Eife  of  S&lacft  l^atoft 


a  brother,  during  all  the  time  I  remained 
with  him. 

Having  got  a  new  guide,  a  war  chief,  [Maj. 
Garland,]  we  started  for  our  own  country, 
taking  a  circuitous  route.  Our  Great  Father 
being  about  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  children  in 
the  big  towns  towards  sunrising,  and  being 
desirous  that  we  should  have  an  oppor-  [145] 
tunity  of  seeing  them,  directed  our  guide  to 
take  us  through. 

On  our  arrival  at  Baltimore,  we  were  much 
astonished  to  see  so  large  a  village;  but  the 
war  chief  told  us  that  we  would  soon  see  a 
larger  one.  This  surprised  us  more.  During 
our  stay  here,  we  visited  all  the  public  buildings 
and  places  of  amusement — saw  much  to  ad 
mire,  and  were  well  entertained  by  the  people, 
who  crowded  to  see  us.  Our  Great  Father 
was  there  at  the  same  time,  and  seemed  to  be 
much  liked  by  his  white  children,  who  flocked 
around  him,  (as  they  had  done  us,)  to  shake 
him  by  the  hand.  He  did  not  remain  long  — 
having  left  the  city  before  us. 

We  left  Baltimore  in  a  steam  boat,  and 
travelled  in  this  way  to  the  big  village,  where 
they  make  medals  and  money,  [Philadelphia.] 
We  again  expressed  surprise  at  finding  this 
village  so  much  larger  than  the  one  we  had 
left ;  but  the  war  chief  again  told  us,  that  we 
would  soon  see  another  much  larger  than  this. 
I  had  no  idea  that  the  white  people  had  such 
170 


Eifc  of  25lack 


large  villages,  and  so  many  people.  They 
were  very  kind  to  us — showed  us  all  their 
great  public  works,  their  ships  and  steam  boats. 
We  visited  the  place  where  they  make  money, 
[the  mint,]  and  saw  the  men  engaged  at  it. 
They  presented  each  of  us  with  a  number  of 
pieces  of  the  coin  as  they  fell  from  the  mint, 
which  are  very  handsome. 

I  witnessed  a  militia  training  in  this  city,  in 
which  were  performed  a  number  of  singular 
military  feats.  [146]  The  chiefs  and  men 
were  well  dressed,  and  exhibited  quite  a  war 
like  appearance.  I  think  our  system  of  mili 
tary  parade  far  better  than  that  of  the  whites 
— but,  as  I  am  now  done  going  to  war,  I  will 
not  describe  it,  or  say  any  thing  more  about 
war,  or  the  preparations  necessary  for  it. 

We  next  started  to  New  York,  and  on  our 
arrival  near  the  wharf,  saw  a  large  collection 
of  people  gathered  at  Castle-Garden.  We  had 
seen  many  wonderful  sights  in  our  way — large 
villages,  the  great  national  road  over  the 
mountains,  the  rail  roads,  steam  carriages, 
ships,  steam  boats,  and  many  other  things; 
but  we  were  now  about  to  witness  a  sight  more 
surprising  than  any  of  these.  We  were  told 
that  a  man  was  going  up  into  the  air  in  a  bal 
loon!  We  watched  with  anxiety  to  see  if  it 
could  be  true;  and  to  our  utter  astonishment, 
saw  him  ascend  in  the  air  until  the  eye  could 
no  longer  perceive  him.  Our  people  were  all 


Sife  of  SEtfacft 


surprised,  and  one  of  our  young  men  asked  the 
prophet  if  he  was  going  up  to  see  the  Great 
Spirit  ? 

After  the  ascension  of  the  balloon,  we 
landed,  and  got  into  a  carriage,  to  go  to  the 
house  that  had  been  provided  for  our  reception. 
We  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance,  before 
the  street  was  so  crowded  that  it  was  impos 
sible  for  the  carriage  to  pass.  The  war  chief 
then  directed  the  coachman  to  take  another 
street  and  stop  at  a  different  house  from  the 
one  we  had  intended.  On  our  arrival  here, 
we  were  waited  upon  by  a  number  of  gentle 
men,  who  seemed  much  pleased  to  see  us. 
[147]  We  were  furnished  with  good  rooms, 
good  provisions,  and  every  thing  necessary  for 
our  comfort. 

The  chiefs  of  this  big  village,  being  desirous 
that  all  their  people  should  have  an  opportunity 
to  see  us,  fitted  up  their  great  council  house 
for  this  purpose,  where  we  saw  an  immense 
number  of  people;  all  of  whom  treated  us 
with  friendship,  and  many  with  great  gen 
erosity. 

The  chiefs  were  particular  in  showing  us 
every  thing  that  they  thought  would  be  pleas 
ing  or  gratifying  to  us.  We  went  with  them 
to  Castle-Garden  to  see  the  fire-works,  which 
was  quite  an  agreeable  entertainment-— but  to 
the  whites  who  witnessed  it,  less  magnificent 
than  the  sight  of  one  of  our  large  prairies  would 
be  when  on  fire. 

172 


Sife  of  SMacft 


We  visited  all  the  public  buildings  and  places 
of  amusement,  which  to  us  were  truly  aston 
ishing,  yet  very  gratifying. 

Every  body  treated  us  with  friendship,  and 
many  with  great  liberality.  The  squaws  pre 
sented  us  many  handsome  little  presents,  that 
are  said  to  be  valuable.  They  were  very  kind, 
very  good,  and  very  pretty — tor  pale  fates  ! 

Among  the  men,  who  treated  us  with  marked 
friendship,  by  the  presentation  of  many  valu 
able  presents,  I  cannot  omit  to  mention  the 
name  of  my  old  friend  CROOKS,  of  the 
American  Fur  Company.  I  have  known  him 
long,  and  have  always  found  him  to  be  a  good 
chief — one  who  gives  good  advice,  and  treats 
[148]  our  people  right.  I  shall  always  be 
proud  to  recognize  him  as  a  friend,  and  glad 
to  shake  him  by  the  hand.51 

Having  seen  all  the  wonders  of  this  big  vil 
lage,  and  being  anxious  to  return  to  our  people, 
our  guide  started  with  us  for  our  own  country. 
On  arriving  at  Albany,  the  people  were  so 
anxious  to  see  us,  that  they  crowded  the  street 

51  Ramsey  Crooks,  to  whom  Black  Hawk  alludes, 
was  for  almost  a  generation  a  prominent  actor  in 
the  conduct  of  the  American  fur  trade.  He  was  in 
Wisconsin,  in  the  employ  of  the  North  West  Com 
pany,  as  early  as  1806.  After  participating  in  the 
Astorian  Expedition  of  1811-12  and  other  hazardous 
enterprises,  Crooks  entered  the  employment  of  John 
Jacob  Astor.  He  was  made  a  partner  in  Astor's 
American  Fur  Company  in  1817,  and  in  1834,  on 
Astor's  retirement,  became  president  of  the  com 
pany.  He  died  at  New  York  in  1859. 

173 


tfe  of  25Iacft 


and  wharves,  where  the  steam  boat  landed,  so 
much,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  us  to 
pass  to  the  hotel  which  had  been  provided  for 
our  reception. 

We  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  and 
then  started  for  Detroit.  I  had  spent  many 
pleasant  days  at  this  place;  and  anticipated,  on 
my  arrival,  to  meet  many  of  my  old  friends— 
but  in  this  I  was  disappointed.  What  could 
be  the  cause  of  this  ?  Are  they  all  dead  ?  Or 
what  has  become  of  them  ?  I  did  not  see  our 
old  father52  there,  who  had  always  gave  me 
good  advice,  and  treated  me  with  great  friend 
ship. 

After  leaving  Detroit,  it  was  but  a  few  days 
before  we  landed  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The 
war  chief  at  the  fort  treated  us  very  kindly,  as 
did  the  people  generally.  I  called  on  the  father 
of  the  Winnebagoes,  [Gen.  J.  M.  Street,]  to 
whom  I  had  surrendered  myself  after  the  battle 
at  the  Bad  Axe,  who  received  me  very  friendly. 
I  told  him  that  I  had  left  my  great  medi 
cine  bag  with  his  chiefs  before  I  gave  myself 
up;  and  now,  that  I  was  to  enjoy  my  liberty 
again,  I  was  anxious  to  get  it,  that  I  might 
hand  it  down  to  my  nation  unsullied. 

[149]  He  said  it  was  safe;  he  had  heard  his 
chiefs  speak  of  it,  and  would  get  it  and  send 

52 Lewis  Cass,  who  for  many  years  was  governor 
of  Michigan  Territory  and  superintendent  in  charge 
of  the  relations  of  the  government  with  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  larger  portion  of  the  Northwest. 

174 


Hife  of  25Iacft  J^atoft 


it  to  me.  I  hope  he  will  not  forget  his  promise, 
as  the  whites  generally  do — because  I  have 
always  heard  that  he  was  a  good  man,  and  a 
good  father — and  made  no  promise  that  he 
did  not  fulfil. 

Passing  down  the  Mississippi,  I  discovered 
a  large  collection  of  people  in  the  mining 
country,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  on 
the  ground  that  we  had  given  to  our  relation, 
DUBUQUE,  a  long  time  ago.  I  was  surprised 
at  this,  as  I  had  understood  from  our  Great 
Father,  that  the  Mississippi  was  to  be  the 
dividing  line  between  his  red  and  white  chil 
dren,  and  he  did  not  wish  either  to  cross  it.  I 
was  much  pleased  with  this  talk,  as  I  knew  it 
would  be  much  better  for  both  parties.  I  have 
since  found  the  country  much  settled  by  the 
whites  further  down  and  near  to  our  people, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  I  am  very  much 
afraid,  that  in  a  few  years,  they  will  begin  to 
drive  and  abuse  our  people,  as  they  have  for 
merly  done.  I  may  not  live  to  see  it,  but  I 
feel  certain  the  day  is  not  distant. 

When  we  arrived  at  Rock  Island,  Ke-o-kuck 
and  the  other  chiefs  were  sent  for.  They 
arrived  the  next  day  with  a  great  number  of 
their  young  men,  and  came  over  to  see  me.  I 
was  pleased  to  see  them,  and  they  all  appeared 
glad  to  see  me.  Among  them  were  some  who 
had  lost  relations  during  the  war  the  year  be 
fore.  When  we  met,  I  perceived  the  tear  of 
sor-[i5O]row  gush  from  their  eyes  at  the 
175 


life  of  2Wacft 


recollection  of  their  loss,  yet  they  exhibited  a 
smiling  countenance,  from  the  joy  they  felt  at 
seeing  me  alive  and  well. 

The  next  morning,  the  war  chief,  our  guide, 
convened  a  council  at  fort  Armstrong.  Ke-o- 
kuck  and  his  party  went  to  the  fort;  but,  in 
consequence  of  the  war  chief  not  having  called 
for  me  to  accompany  him,  I  concluded  that  I 
would  wait  until  I  was  sent  for.  Consequently 
the  interpreter  came,  and  said,  "they  were 
ready,  and  had  been  waiting  for  me  to  come 
to  the  fort."  I  told  him  I  was  ready,  and 
would  accompany  him.  On  our  arrival  there, 
the  council  commenced.  The  war  chief  said 
that  the  object  of  this  council  was  to  deliver 
me  up  to  Ke-o-kuck.  He  then  read  a  paper, 
and  directed  me  to  follow  Ke-o-kuck' s  advice, 
and  be  governed  by  his  council  in  all  things  !  In 
this  speech  he  said  much  that  was  mortifying 
to  my  feelings,  and  I  made  an  indignant  reply. 

I  do  not  know  what  object  the  war  chief  had 
in  making  such  a  speech,  or  whether  he  in 
tended  what  he  said;  but  I  do  know,  that  it 
was  uncalled  for,  and  did  not  become  him.  I 
have  addressed  many  war  chiefs,  and  have 
listened  to  their  speeches  with  pleasure  —  but 
never  had  my  feelings  of  pride  and  honor  in 
sulted  on  any  former  occasion.  I  am  sorry 
that  I  was  so  hasty  in  reply  to  this  chief,  be 
cause  I  said  that  which  I  did  not  intend. 

In  this  council,  I  met  my  old  friend,  a  great 
war  chief,  [Col.  Wm.  Davenport,]  whom  I  had 
176 


Ittfr  of  231ach  ttatoft 


known  [151]  about  eighteen  years.  He  is  a 
good  and  brave  chief.  He  always  treated  me 
well,  and  gave  me  good  advice.  He  made  a 
speech  to  me  on  this  occasion,  very  different 
from  that  of  the  other  chief.  It  sounded  like 
coming  from  a  brave.  He  said  he  had  known 
me  a  long  time  —  that  we  had  been  good  friends 
during  that  acquaintance  —  and,  although  he 
had  fought  against  my  braves,  in  our  late  war,  he 
still  extended  the  hand  of  friendship  to  me  — 
and  hoped,  that  I  was  now  satisfied,  from  what 
I  had  seen  in  my  travels,  that  it  was  folly  to 
think  of  going  to  war  against  the  whites,  and 
would  ever  remain  at  peace.  He  said  he  would 
be  glad  to  see  me  at  all  times — and  on  all 
occasions  would  be  happy  to  give  me  good 
advice. 

If  our  Great  Father  were  to  make  such  men 
our  agents,  he  would  much  better  subserve 
the  interests  of  our  people,  as  well  as  his  own, 
than  in  any  other  way.  The  war  chiefs  all 
know  our  people,  and  are  respected  by  them. 
If  the  war  chiefs,  at  the  different  military  posts 
on  the  frontiers,  were  made  agents,  they  could 
always  prevent  difficulties  from  arising  among 
the  Indians  and  whites;  and  I  have  no  doubt, 
had  the  war  chief  above  alluded  to,  been  our 
agent,  we  would  never  have  had  the  difficulties 
with  the  whites  which  we  have  had.  Our  agents 
ought  always  to  be  braves!  I  would,  there 
fore,  recommend  to  our  Great  Father,  the 
propriety  of  breaking  up  the  present  Indian 
177 


Hife  of  25lacfe 


establishment  and  creating  a  new  one  —  and 
of  making  the  commanding  officers,  at  the 
different  frontier  posts,  the  [152]  agents  of 
the  government  for  the  different  nations  of 
Indians. 

I  have  a  good  opinion  of  the  American  war 
chiefs,  generally,  with  whom  I  am  acquainted ; 
and  my  people,  who  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  and  becoming  well  acquainted  with  the 
great  war  chief  [Gen.  Winfield  Scott,]  who 
made  the  last  treaty  with  them,  in  conjunction 
with  the  great  chief  of  Illinois,  [Governor 
Reynolds,]  all  tell  me  that  he  is  the  greatest 
brave  they  ever  saw,  and  a  good  man — one 
who  fulfils  his  promises.  Our  braves  speak 
more  highly  of  him,  than  of  any  chief  that  has 
ever  been  among  us,  or  made  treaties  with  us. 
Whatever  he  says,  may  be  depended  upon. 
If  he  had  been  our  Great  Father,  we  never 
would  have  been  compelled  to  join  the  British 
in  their  last  war  with  America — and  I  have 
thought  that,  as  our  Great  Father  is  changed 
every  few  years,  that  his  children  would  do 
well  to  put  this  great  war  chief  in  his  place — 
as  they  cannot  find  a  better  chief  for  a  Great 
Father  any  where.53 

I  would  be  glad  if  the  village  criers,  [editors,] 

53  Probably  Black  Hawk  was  the  first  person  to 
put  General  Scott  in  nomination  for  the  presidency; 
Black  Hawk's  advice  was  adopted  by  the  Whig 
party  eighteen  years  later,  but  in  the  ensuing  elec 
tion  the  American  people  registered  their  emphatic 
dissent  from  it. 

178 


Eife  of  2Macft 


in  all  the  villages  I  passed  through,  would  let 
their  people  know  my  wishes  and  opinions 
about  this  great  war  chief. 

During  my  travels,  my  opinions  were  asked 
on  different  subjects  —  but  for  want  of  a  good 
interpreter,  were  very  seldom  given.  Presum 
ing  that  they  would  be  equally  acceptable  now, 
I  have  thought  it  a  part  of  my  duty,  to  lay  the 
most  important  before  the  public. 

[153]  The  subject  of  colonizing  the  negroes 
was  introduced,  and  my  opinion  asked,  as  to 
the  best  method  of  getting  clear  of  these 
people.  I  was  not  fully  prepared  at  the  time, 
to  answer — as  I  knew  but  little  about  their 
situation.  I  have  since  made  many  inquiries 
on  the  subject — and  find  that  a  number  of 
states  admit  no  slaves,  whilst  the  balance  hold 
these  negroes  as  slaves,  and  are  anxious,  but 
do  not  know,  how  to  get  clear  of  them.  I 
will  now  give  my  plan,  which,  when  under 
stood,  I  hope  will  be  adopted. 

Let  the  free  states  remove  all  the  male 
negroes  within  their  limits,  to  the  slave  states 

—  then  let  our  Great  Father  buy  all  the/ema/e 
negroes  in  the  slave  states,  between  the  ages 
of  twelve  and  twenty,  and  sell  them  to  the 
people  of  the  free  states,  for  a  term  of  years 

—  say,    those   under   fifteen,    until   they   are 
twenty-one  —  and  those  of,  and  over  fifteen, 
for  five  years — and  continue  to  buy  all  the 
females  in  the  slave  states,  as  soon  as  they 
arrive  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  take  them  to 

179 


Itife  of  25Iatfe 


the  free  states,  and  dispose  of  them  in  the 
same  way  as  the  first  —  and  it  will  not  be  long 
before  the  country  is  clear  of  the  black  skins, 
about  which,  I  am  told,  they  have  been  talking, 
for  a  long  time;  and  for  which  they  have  ex 
pended  a  large  amount  of  money. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  our  Great  Father  would 
willingly  do  his  part  in  accomplishing  this  ob 
ject  for  his  children — as  he  could  not  lose 
much  by  it,  and  would  make  them  all  happy. 
If  the  free  states  did  not  want  [154]  them  all 
for  servants,  we  would  take  the  balance  in  our 
nation  to  help  our  women  make  corn. 

I  have  not  time  now,  nor  is  it  necessary,  to 
enter  more  into  detail  about  my  travels  through 
the  United  States.  The  white  people  know 
all  about  them,  and  my  people  have  started  to 
their  hunting  grounds,  and  I  am  anxious  to 
follow  them. 

Before  I  take  leave  of  the  public,  I  must 
contradict  the  story  of  some  village  criers, 
who  (I  have  been  told,)  accuse  me  of  "hav 
ing  murdered  women  and  children  among  the 
whites!"  This  assertion  is  false!  I  never 
did,  nor  have  I  any  knowledge  that  any  of  my 
nation  ever  killed  a  white  woman  or  child.  I 
make  this  statement  of  truth,  to  satisfy  the 
white  people  among  whom  I  have  been  travel 
ling,  (and  by  whom  I  have  been  treated  with 
great  kindness,)  that,  when  they  shook  me  by 
the  hand  so  cordially,  they  did  not  shake  the 
180 


Jlifc  of  25lacft 


hand  that  had  ever  been  raised  against  any 
but  warriors. 

It  has  always  been  our  custom  to  receive  all 
strangers  that  come  to  our  village  or  camps, 
in  time  of  peace,  on  terms  of  friendship  —  to 
share  with  them  the  best  provisions  we  have, 
and  give  them  all  the  assistance  in  our  power. 
If  on  a  journey,  or  lost,  to  put  them  on  the 
right  trail,  and  if  in  want  of  moccasins,  to 
supply  them.  I  feel  grateful  to  the  whites  for 
the  kind  manner  they  treated  me  and  my  party 
whilst  travelling  amongst  them — and  from  my 
heart  I  assure  them,  that  the  white  man  will 
always  be  welcome  in  our  village  or  camps, 
as  a  [155]  brother.  The  tomahawk  is  buried 
forever!  We  will  forget  what  has  past — and 
may  the  watchword  between  the  Americans 
and  Sacs  and  Foxes  ever  be — "Friendship!" 

I  am  now  done.  A  few  more  moons  and 
I  must  follow  my  fathers  to  the  shades !  May 
the  Great  Spirit  keep  our  people  and  the  whites 
always  at  peace  —  is  the  sincere  wish  of 

BLACK   HAWK. 


181 


Index 


ALBANY  (N.  Y.),  Black  Hawk  visits,  93,  173-74. 

Allegheny  Mountains,  as  a  boundary,  15. 

American  Bottom,  in  Illinois,  19. 

American  Fur  Company,  partner,  173. 

Apple  River  (Moscohocoynak),  fort  on,  148-49. 

Arkansas  River,  Indian  embassy  to,  116. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  fur  trader,  173. 

Astorian  expedition,  173. 

Atkinson,  Gen.  Henry  (White  Beaver),  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  133,  139,  163;  orders  Sioux  massacre,  161; 
treatment  of  Black  Hawk,  135,  137,  163-65;  book 
dedicated  to,  7-8. 

BAD  AXE,  battle  of,  157-59,  *6i,  174. 

Bad  Axe  River,  mouth  of,  157. 

Balloon  ascension,  Black  Hawk  describes,  171-72. 

Baltimore,  Black  Hawk  visits,  170. 

Beans,  legend  of  origin  of,  95-96;  raised  by  Indians, 
99,  127. 

Beaver,  hunted,  98. 

Black  Hawk  (Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah),  birth,  23, 
30;  early  exploits,  30-35;  visits  factory,  50-52;  in 
War  of  1812,  44-46,52-60;  visits  Maiden,  101,  104; 
opposes  removal  from  village,  102-7,  111-13,  116- 
17;  agrees  to  remove,  118-19,  124;  nonresistance, 
119-20, 125-26;  signs  treaty,  126;  promised  aid,  128- 
31;  speeches,  no,  122-23,  X48;  prepares  for  war, 
131-32, 135;  advances  up  Rock  River,  131-36;  coun 
cil  with  Potawatomi,  138-39;  defeats  whites,  139- 
44;  forced  into  war,  145-46;  early  attacks,  146, 
148-50;  at  Four  Lakes,  153;  battle  of  Wisconsin 
Heights,  154-55;  attempts  to  surrender,  157-58; 
battle  of  Bad  Axe,  158-59;  capture  of,  160-61,  174; 
imprisoned,  161-64;  ironed,  163;  eastern  tour,  21, 

185 


93.  165-74;  subjected  to  Keokuk,  176;  family,  99, 
164;  undertakes  autobiography,  5,  10,  13;  dedica 
tion,  7-8. 

Black  Hawk  War,  causes,  ix,  17-20,  106-33,  J68;  hos 
tilities  begun,  133-40;  Stillman's  defeat,  139-44; 
flight  through  Wisconsin,  153-57;  Bad  Axe  defeat, 
157-59;  Sioux  massacre,  160-61;  numbers  engaged, 
145;  losses,  161;  results,  21-22,  162;  accounts  of,  9. 

British.     See  England. 

Buell,  Pauline,  acknowledgments  to,  xi. 

CAP  AU  GRIS  (Capo  Gray),  on  the  Mississippi,  65. 

Cass,  Lewis,  Black  Hawk  commends,  174. 

Cherokee  Indians,  hostilities  with,  33,  35. 

Chicago,  beginnings,  22;  Indian  treaties  at,  17,  115; 
in  War  of  1812,  56;  trader  at,  48-49;  fur  trade 
factory,  49. 

Chippewa  Indians,  hostilities  with,  35;  promise  aid  to 
Black  Hawk,  129-30;  Black  Hawk  seeks  refuge 
among,  158. 

Cholera,  effect  on  Black  Hawk  War,  162. 

Chouteau,  Auguste,  treaty  commissioner,  80. 

Cincinnati,  Black  Hawk  describes,  165. 

Clark,  Gen.  William,  treaty  commissioner,  80;  Indian 
superintendent,  109,  112,  118-19,  131-32. 

Coles,  Edward,  governor  of  Illinois,  109-10. 

Craig,  Capt.  Thomas  E.,  in  War  of  1812,  59. 

"Credit  Island,  1814-1914,"  76. 

Crooks,  Ramsey,  Black  Hawk  meets,  173. 

Cuivre  (Quiver)  River,  65-66,  70. 

Cumberland  (National)  Road,  Black  Hawk  traverses, 
166-67,  171. 

DAVENPORT,  Col.  William,  Indian  agent,  176-77. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  22,  161;  friend 
ship  with  Black  Hawk,  162. 

Dement,  Maj.  John,  bravery,  150-51. 

Des  Moines  Rapids,  fort  at,  40,  77,  81. 

Detroit,  a  frontier  town,  19;  in  War  of  1812,  44,  55-57; 
treaty  near,  80;  commandant,  114;  Black  Hawk 
visits,  174. 

186 


Dickson  (Dixon),  Robert,  British  agent  in  War  of 
1812,  46,  52-54,  58,  98;  promises  to  Indians,  101. 

Dixon's  Ferry,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  143,  147-48. 

Dogs,  eaten  by  Indians,  26,  148. 

Dubuque,  Julien,  lead  mines  ceded  to,  175. 

Durley,  William,  killed,  147. 

EDWARDS,  Gov.  Ninian,  treaty  commissioner,  80. 

England,  captures  Canada  29;  influence  on  Indians, 
16,  19-20,  29,  38,  49,  54,  81,  86,  101,  114,  128-29, 
136,  145,  178;  relation  to  Black  Hawk,  129-30, 
145;  wars  with,  15-16,  46-47,  69,  101,  144;  peace, 
121;  fort  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  72-76. 

English  River,  hunting  on,  68-69. 

Erie  Canal,  effect  of,  22. 

FABIUS  River,  81. 

Factory  system.     See  fur  trade  factory. 

Farley,  Mary,  acknowledgments  to,  xi. 

Fire  works,  compared  to  a  prairie  fire,  172. 

Flags,  at  Indian  village,  37-38,  74-75;  at  Fort  Madi 
son,  46;  Rock  Island,  52;  presented  to  Indians,  52, 
55;  of  truce,  69,  130,  157;  British  raised,  136. 

Forsyth,  Thomas,  Indian  agent,  48-49,  98, 102-3,  109, 
in,  113;  in  War  of  1812,  53,  55-56;  attempt  to 
capture,  56,  58,  98;  threatened,  112;  advises  Black 
Hawk,  118;  deprived  of  office,  120;  successor,  147. 

Fort  Apple  River,  attacked,  148-49. 

Fort  Armstrong,  built,  87;  Indian  agent  at,  48;  Black 
Hawk  visits,  98;  commandant,  103,  112,  162;  coun 
cil  at,  176-77. 

Fort  Crawford,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  161. 

Fort  Dearborn,  captured,  44,  56. 

Fort  Howard,  in  Missouri,  66. 

Fort  Johnson,  built,  77;  attacked,  78;  abandoned,  77, 
79- 

Fort  Madison,  site,  133;  built,  40-42;  attack  on,  44-46; 
factory  at,  49-52;  commandant,  60;  abandoned,  65. 

Fort  Wayne,  56. 

Fortress  Monroe,  Black  Hawk  at,  169. 

Foster,  Mary  S.,  acknowledgments  to,  xi. 
187 


Four  Lakes  country,  Black  Hawk  seeks,  146-47;  refuge 

in,  153.     See  also  Madison. 
Fox  Indians,  village,  38,  70,  75,  88;  chief,  103;  union 

with  Sacs,  29-30;  agency  for,  5, 10;  killed  by  Sioux, 

116;  vengeance  of,  127-28,  133;  peace  with,  80-81; 

hunting  party,  128;  oppose  Black  Hawk,  131. 
Fox  River  of  Illinois,  as  a  boundary,  17. 
Fox  (Sac)  River  (Wis.),  Indians  on,  29. 
Frederick  (Md.),  Black  Hawk  visits,  167. 
French,  struggle   for  America,   15,   29;  Indians  first 

meet,  24-25,  28-29;  sell  Louisiana,  36. 
French- Canadian  settlements,  in  Illinois,  19;  at  Peoria, 

59;  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  47. 
Frontiersmen,  attitude  toward  Indians,  ix,  19;  western 

advance,  15,  19. 
Fur  trade,  American,  173;  British,  52,  82;  French,  29; 

rivalry  in,  15-16,  90;  methods,  49-50,  52-53,  90,  97, 

99,  117. 
Fur  trade  factory,  at  Chicago,  49;  Fort  Madison,  41, 

49-52. 

Furs,  stolen  from  Indians,  102. 
GAINES,  Gen.  Edmund  P.,  advances  against  Black 

Hawk,  121,  124,  126,  128;  makes  treaty,  126,  133. 
Galena  (111.),  119,  149,  162. 

Garland,  Maj.  John,  accompanies  Black  Hawk,  170. 
Gomo,  Potawatomi  chief,  56,  58,  69,  71,  82-85. 
Gratiot,  Henry,  visit  to  Black  Hawk,  135-37. 
Green  Bay,  Indians  at,  29;  in  War  of  1812,  53-54. 
HAGERSTOWN  (Md.),  Black  Hawk  visits,  167. 
Hall,  Judge  James,  Black  Hawk  complains  to,  109-10. 
Hall,  Rachael,  captured,  152. 
Hall,  Sylvia,  captured,  152. 
Hancock  County  (111.),  77. 
Harrison,  William  H.,  governor  of  Indiana  Territory, 

17;  holds  treaty,  38. 
Hashequarhiqua,  Sac  chief,  39. 
Henderson  River,  80. 
Honey,  stolen  from  Indians,  102. 
Hulbert,  Archer  H.,  The  Cumberland  Road,  166. 
1 88 


ILLINOIS,  early  settlements  in,  19;  hunting,  60;  massa 
cre,  152;  militia,  20,  59,  125, 133,  150;  land  cession 
in,  40,  103;  governor,  80,  109,  178;  effect  of  Black 
Hawk  War  in,  22. 

Illinois  River,  as  a  boundary,  17,  21;  village  on,  48; 
Indians  on,  56,  58,  71;  hunting  on,  83;  massacre 
on,  152. 

Illinois  State  Historical  Society  Journal,  76. 

Indian  agent,  at  Rock  Island,  5,  10,  48,  98,  102-3, 
118,  177;  for  Winnebago,  105,  135;  superintendent, 
109,  112,  118-19,  131-32,  174;  killed  in  war,  147; 
changes  recommended,  178. 

Indian  corn,  legend  of,  95-96;  cultivation,  91,  93,  95, 
99,  107,  117,  120,  124,  145,  180;  harvested,  50,  89, 
95>  97J  given  to  Sacs,  126;  stolen  by  Sacs,  127. 

Indian  Creek  (111.),  massacre  on,  152. 

Indiana  Territory,  governor,  17;  in  1804,  18-19. 

Indians,  characteristics,  ix,  20;  food,  91,  98,  107,  112- 
13;  dress,  160;  feasts,  26,  35,  90-92,  94-95,  139, 
148;  games,  97;  dances,  31,  33,  75,  91-93*  I47J 
amusements,  50,  121;  harvests,  50,  89, 95,  97;  treat 
ment  of  women,  65,91-92,  107,  180;  courtship,  92; 
marriage,  91-92;  divorce,  92;  women's  influence, 
117,  123-24;  religion,  95,  97,  107;  belief  in  dreams, 
78, 121, 123, 148;  legends,  23-28,  88,  95-96;  code  of 
morals,  87;  hunting  customs,  35,  50,  93-94,  97-98, 
117;  drunkenness,  99,108,  no;  present  giving,  90, 
94;  hospitality,  181;  devotion  to  ancestral  seat,  89, 
106-7,  iii-i2,  117,  127,  163;  payment  for  murder, 
39,  100;  desire  for  vengeance,  127-28,  147,  152; 
cause  of  wars,  15-16, 94;  war  customs,  62, 65, 92-93, 
134, 142;  war  songs,  122, 134;  neutrality,  49;  peace 
customs,  101;  death  songs,  68,  100;  mourning  cus 
toms,  34,  35,  83,  89,  90,  99;  maple  sugar  making, 
98;  medicine  bags,  33,  79,  139,  147-48,  160,  174; 
treatment  by  whites,  x,  10,  12,  17,  43,  48,  86-87, 
102,  104,  106,  108,  no,  114,  141,  146,  163,  167, 
175;  land  cessions  to,  10,  17,  40;  effect  of  confine 
ment  on,  164. 

189 


Iowa,  Annals  of,  40. 

Iowa,  boundary,  157;  Indians  in,  20. 

Iowa  Indians,  on  the  warpath,  34;  hostilities  with  Sacs, 
100-1. 

Iowa  (loway)  River,  affluent,  69;  camp  on,  68;  village, 
103,  105-6. 

JACKSON,  Andrew,  Black  Hawk  visits,  168-69;  at  Bal 
timore,  170. 

Jefferson  Barracks,  troops  at,  133;  Black  Hawk,  161-65. 

Jeffreon  River,  in  Missouri,  40. 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  22. 

KASKASKIA  Indians,  war  with  Sacs  and  Foxes,  30,  35. 

Kellogg's  Grove  (111.),  in  Black  Hawk  War,  150-51. 

Keokuk  (Keokuck),  Sac  chief,  20,  63,  132;  becomes 
war  chief,  64;  removes  village,  103-6,  112;  attends 
treaty,  114-15;  at  council,  121-22,  175-77;  desires 
peace,  131-32;  visits  Washington,  169;  agent  for, 
147;  defense  of,  118;  relation  to  Black  Hawk,  106-7, 
112,  116-17,  124,  131,  164-65,  176;  speech,  64; 
sketch,  63. 

Kickapoo  Indians,  in  War  of  1812,  54,  56. 

Kinzie,  John,  trader,  48. 

Kishwaukee  (Kishwacokee)  River,  Black  Hawk  on, 
137-38,  146;  Winnebago  on,  147. 

LA  CROSSE  (Prairie  La  Cross),  Winnebago  village  at, 
160. 

La  Gutrie,  Edward,  British  trader,  52,  54,  81-82. 

Lake  Michigan,  as  a  boundary,  22. 

Lance,  The  Sac  chief,  63. 

Lead  mines,  region  of,  44,  70,  80;  settled,  21;  cession 
of,  104,  175;  worked  by  Indians,  94;  in  Black 
Hawk  War,  147. 

Leclaire,  Antoine,  interpreter  for  Black  Hawk,  10,  13; 
certificate,  5. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  22. 

Louisiana,  purchase,  36. 

Louisville,  Black  Hawk  visits,  165. 

MACKINAC,  Indians  at,  29;  massacre  at,  43;  in  War  of 
1812,  44;  fur  trade  post,  82. 
190 


Madison  (Wis.),  155.     See  also  Four  Lakes  country. 

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah.     See  Black  Hawk. 

Maiden,  British  defeat  at,  69;  Indians  visit,  101,  114, 
128. 

Matatah,  Potawatomi  brave,  83-84. 

Mattatas,  Sac  chief,  123;  daughter,  123-24. 

Medals,  given  to  Indians,  25, 38-39,  55, 101;  value,  26. 

Menominee  Indians,  hunt  with  Sacs,  82;  kill  Foxes, 
116;  vengeance  on,  127-28,  133. 

Meramec  River,  33. 

Michigan,  in  1804,  19;  territorial  governor,  174. 

Milwaukee  (Milwdke)  as  a  fort,  129,  138. 

Mint,  Black  Hawk  visits,  171. 

Mississippi,  governor  of,  161. 

Mississippi  River,  as  a  boundary,  15, 17,  20,  22,  40,  60, 
103,  109,  113,  118,  121-22,  124-26,  135,  144,  153, 
155-56,  J63,  175;  affluents,  33;  island  in,  87;  ice 
in,  105;  fur  trade  on,  49;  during  War  of  1812,  55, 
63,65,72-77;  Indians  claim,  89;  Indians  cross,  158- 
61;  Black  Hawk  on,  133,  157,  175;  Pike  ascends, 
.37-38. 

Missouri,  Indians  in,  30,  60-61;   governor,  80;   land 
cessions  in  17;  in  War  of  1812,  66-68,  70. 

Missouri  Gazette,  74. 

Missouri  River,  Indians  on,  31,  63,  70;  mouth,  89. 

Montreal,  Indian  habitat,  23,  29. 

Moscohocoynak.     See  Apple  River. 

Mukataquet,  Black  Hawk's  ancestor,  26-27,  148. 

Muscow  Indians,  visit  Sacs,  30. 

Muskrats,  hunted,  98. 

NAMAH  (Sturgeon),  Sac  chief,  23,  25-26,  28. 

Nanamakee  (Thunder),  Black  Hawk's  ancestor,  23-28, 
30,  148;  speech,  27-28. 

Napoleon  I,  sells  Louisiana,  36. 

National  Road.     See  Cumberland  Road. 

Neapope,  Sac  chief,  112,  128-31,  137,  145;  with  rear 
guard,  153;  retires  to  the  Winnebago,  156. 

Negro  colonization,  Black  Hawk's  opinions  on,  179-80. 

New  York  City,  Black  Hawk  visits,  93,  171-73. 
191 


Nomite,  Sac  chief,  80. 

North  West  Fur  Company,  in  Wisconsin,  173. 

OGLE  County  (111.),  battle  in,  145. 

Ohio  River,  as  a  boundary,  15,  19;  Black  Hawk  on, 
165;  characterizes,  166. 

Old  Northwest,  last  Indian  war  in,  16. 

Osage  Indians,  intertribal  relations,  30-35. 

Osage  River,  30. 

Ottawa  (111.),  152. 

Ottawa  Indians,  in  War  of  1812,  54;  promise  aid  to 
Black  Hawk,  120-30. 

Ouchequ^ka,  Sac  chief,  39. 

Ouisconsin  River.     See  Wisconsin  River. 

PASHEPAHO,  Sac  chief,  39. 

Paukahummawa  (Sun  Fish),  Sac  chief,  23,  26,  28. 

Peoria,  visited,  48;  in  War  of  1812,  53,  55,  59, 
63-64,  69;  commandant,  71,  83-85. 

Philadelphia,  Black  Hawk  visits,  170. 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  on  the  Mississippi,  37,  38. 

Polo  (111.),  in  Black  Hawk  War,  147. 

Portage  des  Sioux  (Mo.),  treaties  at,  80;  as  a  bound 
ary,  89.  < 

Potawatomi  (Pottowattomi)  Indians,  habitat,  49,  56, 
71;  language,  71;  in  War  of  1812,  53-54,  56,  58, 
69-70, 82-85;  treaty  with,  115;  promise  aid  to  Black 
Hawk,  129-30,  137;  council  with,  138-39;  repudiate 
Black  Hawk,  139;  participate  in  massacre,  152. 

Prairie  du  Chien  (Wis.),  44,  47;  in  War  of  1812,47, 
72-76;  fort  at,  72;  council,  116;  treaty,  114-15; 
massacre  near,  127,  133;  in  Black  Hawk  War,  155, 
1 60;  return  to,  174. 

Prairie  La  Crosse.     See  La  Crosse. 

Presidency,  Black  Hawk's  nomination,  178. 

Prophet.     See  Shawnee  Prophet. 

Prophet  (Winnebago).     See  White  Cloud. 

Pyesa,  Black  Hawk's  father,  23,  30-31;  death,  33,  35. 

QUAIFE,  M.  M.,  Chicago  and  the  Old  Northwest,  17,  43, 
49,  56,  162. 

Quashquame,  Sac  chief,  39,  63,  66,  104,  no,  115. 
192 


Quebec,  British  capture,  29. 

Quiver  River.     See  Cuivre  River. 

RACCOONS,  hunted,  98. 

Railroad,  Black  Hawk  describes,  168. 

Red  River,  Indian  Embassy  to,  116. 

Reynolds,  John,  governor  of  Illinois,  125,  178;  calls 
out  militia,  133. 

Rockford  (111.),  site,  137. 

Rock  Island  (111.),  legend  of,  88;  agency  at,  5,  10,  48, 
98, 102-3,  H3, 118,133,147,164;  trader,  52, 1 12-13,* 
133,  164;  fort  on,  87;  interpreter  at,  105,  113, 164; 
council,  175;  cholera,  162;  visitors,  109;  battles 
near,  72-77;  encampment,  126;  village,  75,  87-88; 
in  Black  Hawk  War,  136. 

Rock  Rapids,  in  the  Mississippi,  72,  76,  77,  88. 

Rock  River,  rapids  in,  88-89;  islands,  107;  source,  146; 
affluent,  137;  Winnebago  on,  105;  soldiers  on,  121, 
125-26;  war  party,  72;  Indian  village  at  mouth,  19, 
23,30,36,42,49,58-59,  61-62,  71,  79,  81;  signed 
away,  87,  no;  removal  from,  103-6, 116, 122;  Black 
Hawk  ascends,  133-36. 

SAC  (Sauk)  Indians,  aboriginal  habitat,  23;  village  built, 
30;  language,  141 ;  myths,  23-28,88;  superstitions, 
160;  customs,  90-98,  148;  union  with  Foxes,  29-30; 
Missouri  band,  62-63,  7°,  72J  intertribal  relations, 
93-94,  98,  100-1;  agency  for,  5,  10,  98,  102-3,  109, 
in-12,  114;  relation  to  British,  16,  19-20,  46-47, 
72, 101 ;  treatment  by  Americans,  102-6, 108, 111-14, 
117-27;  threaten  hostilities,  112;  rescue  captives, 
152;  fugitives,  155-56;  die  of  hunger,  156-57;  mas 
sacred  by  Sioux,  160-61;  visit  Washington,  48-49; 
council  with,  42;  described,  88-89.  See  also  Black 
Hawk  War. 

Sac  River.     See  Fox  River. 

Sacs  and  Foxes,  unite,  29;  treaty  of  1804,  9,  17-18, 
38-40;  treaty  of  1816,80,85-86, 127;  treaty  of  1833, 
178. 

St.  Louis  (Mo.),  Spanish  at,  34,  36;  transferred  to 
United  States,  36-37;  treaty  at,  10, 17, 38-40, 85-86; 

193 


in  War  of  1812,  55,  63;  peace  announced  at,  69,  71, 

80;  agency  at,  98,  104,  108, 111-12,  118-19,  131-32, 
St.  Vrain,  Felix,  massacred,  147. 
Salt  River,  37,  54. 
Sanatuwa,  Potawatomi  chief,  71. 
Sangamon  (Sangomo)  River,  hunting  ground,  69. 
Sauk  Indians.     See  Sac  Indians. 
Scott,  Gen.  Winfield,  in  Black  Hawk  War,  22;  at  Rock 

Island,  162-63;  Black  Hawk  nominates  for  presi- 
•      dency,  178. 
Selkirk,  Thomas  Douglas,  Earl,  settlement  on   Red 

River,  130-31. 

Shaw  nee  Prophet,  revolt  of,  43-44,  106. 
Sink  Hole  Battle,  66-68. 
Siouan  Indian  stock,  30. 
Sioux  Indians,  hostilities  with,  93-94,  98,  116,  127; 

massacre  Sacs,  160-61. 
Skunk  River,  hunting  on,  50. 
Slavery,  Black  Hawk's  ideas  on,  179-80. 
Snelling,  William  J.,  Tales  of  the  Northwest,  47. 
Spanish,  at  St.  Louis,  34, 36;  transfer  Louisiana,  36, 37. 
Spring  Wells  (Mich.),  treaties  at,  80. 
Squashes,  raised  by  Indians,  127. 
Stevens,  Frank  E.,  The  Black  Hawk  War,  74,  125,  147, 

149,  152. 

Stillman's  Defeat,  139-44,  150. 
Street,  Gen.  J.  M.,  Indian  agent,  174-75. 
Sturgeon,  Sac  chief.     See  Namah. 
Sun  Fish,  Sac  chief.     See  Paukahummawa. 
Sycamore  Creek,  battle  near,  145. 
TATAPUCKEY,  Potawatomi  chief,  71. 
Taylor,  Maj.  Zachary,  in  War  of  1812,  76-77. 
Tecumseh,  Shawnee  chief,  43,  106. 
Texas,  Indian  embassy  to,  116. 
Throckmorton,  Capt.  John,  commands  the  "Warrior," 

157-58;  characterized,  158. 
Thunder,  Sac  chief.     See  Nanamakee. 
Thwaites,  Reuben  G.,  opinion  cited,  106,  156;  "Story 

of  the  Black  Hawk  War,"  159,  161;  Wisconsin,  76. 

194 


Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  44. 

Tobacco,  legend  of  origin,  95-96. 

Treaty  of  Paris  (1763),  15. 

Treaty  of  Paris  (1783),  15-16. 

Treaty  of  San  Ildefonso  (1800),  36. 

Treaty  of  1804,  with  Sacs  and  Foxes,  9,  17-18,  38-40, 
103,  no,  113-14- 

Treaty  of  1815,  at  Portage  des  Sioux,  80. 

Treaty  of  1815,  at  Spring  Wells,  80. 

Treaty  of  1816,  at  St.  Louis,  80,  85-86,  127. 

Treaty  of  1821,  at  Chicago,  17. 

Treaty  of  1825,  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  114-15. 

Treaty  of  1833,  at  Chicago,  17. 

Two  River  country,  hunting  in,  77,  81-82,  102. 

VENISON,  given  Black  Hawk  in  captivity,  164. 

Vincennes,  capital  of  Indiana  Territory,  19. 

WABASH  River,  Indians  on,  43-44,  85;  visit  to,  114. 

Wacome,  Sac  chief,  64. 

Wapello,  Sac  chief,  121-22. 

War  of  1812,  cause,  ix;  in  the  West,  44-48,  52-59;  in 
Missouri,  66-68;  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  72-76;  Indians 
in,  178;  peace  made,  69-71,  80. 

"Warrior,"  Mississippi  steamboat,  157-58. 

Warsaw  (111.),  site,  77. 

Washeown,  Potawatomi  chief,  69-70;  death,  71. 

Washington,  George,  favors  factory  system,  49. 

Washington  (D.  C.),  capitol,  85;  chiefs  desire  to  visit, 
131-32;  Indians  visit,  48-49,  51,  104,  113-14,  169; 
Black  Hawk  visits,  165,  168-70. 

Wassacummico,  Chippewa  band,  130. 

West  Point,  Black  Hawk  describes,  93. 

Wheeling  (W.  Va.),  Black  Hawk  describes,  165-66. 

Whig  party,  presidential  candidate,  178. 

White  Beaver.     See  Atkinson,  Gen.  Henry. 

White  Cloud  (Winnebago  Prophet),  village,  129-30, 
I35,  i37;  Black  Hawk  consults,  105,  116,  121;  ad 
vice,  121,  123,  129-31,  134,  145;  joins  war  party, 
133, 138;  speech,  134;  aids  Gratiot's  escape,  136-37; 
sketch,  105-6. 

195 


Winnebago  Indians,  villages,  105,  156,  160;  inter 
tribal  relations,  127-28;  assist  Tecumseh,  43-44;  in 
War  of  1812,  45,  54;  agent  for,  105,  135,  174;  sym 
pathize  with  Black  Hawk,  129,  136,  146,  157-58; 
oppose  Black  Hawk,  137,  139;  join  hostiles,  147; 
rescue  captives,  152;  guide  the  whites,  153;  at  Black 
Hawk's  surrender,  160. 

Winnebago  Prophet.     See  White  Cloud. 

Wisconsin,  Indians  of,  29;  fur  trade  in,  173;  effect  of 
Black  Hawk  War,  21-22;  history,  76. 

Wisconsin  Heights,  battle  of,  153-55. 

Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  46,  48,  66,  76,  137, 
m  159-60. 

Wisconsin  (Ouisconsin)  River,  as  a  boundary,  17,  21; 
mouth,  89,  155;  Indians  on,  30;  Black  Hawk,  153, 
J55-56;  massacre  on,  116;  battle,  153-55. 


196 


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